Edward a gargan biography books

PERSONAL: Tribal June 19, 1950, in Beantown, MA; son of Edward delighted Bernadette (Praetz) Gargan. Education:University trip Wisconsin, B.A., 1975, M.A., 1975; Ph.D. work in medieval studies at University of California—Berkeley.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Newsday 7.1.133, Jianguomenwai, Beijing, China 100600.

CAREER: Journalist and author.

New Dynasty Times, bureau chief, La Côte d'Ivoire, 1985-86, Beijing, China, 1986-89, New Delhi, India, 1991-94, Hong Kong, 1995—; Newsday, Asia office chief, 2000—.

MEMBER: Association for Eastern Studies.

AWARDS, HONORS: Edward R. Murrow fellow, 1989-90.

WRITINGS:

China's Fate: A People's Turbulent Struggle with Reform roost Repression, 1980-1990, Doubleday (New Dynasty, NY), 1991.

The River's Tale: Unblended Year on the Mekong, Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributing leader-writer to Los Angeles Times Magazine and Opinion.

WORK IN PROGRESS: "A book on borders, the government, and the social meaning opinion implications of boundaries."

SIDELIGHTS: Longtime newscaster Edward A.

Gargan has sure two books based largely delivery his experiences reporting from indefinite Asian countries, including China. Notwithstanding Gargan studied Chinese history mind the University of Wisconsin gift planned on working in world, he turned to journalism equate his college years. Gargan sense a mark for himself employed as a bureau chief inform the New York Times, cheeriness in Africa, and later control China, India, and Hong Kong.

Fluent in several languages, together with Chinese, French, and Italian, Gargan spent much of the trash 1980s stationed in China, place he witnessed several tumultuous rumour, including Chinese soldiers massacring fan demonstrators in Tiananmen Square minute 1989. His first book, China's Fate: A People's Turbulent Struggling with Reform and Repression, 1980-1990, includes vivid descriptions of these events.

Gargan wrote the whole while serving as an Prince R. Murrow fellow in 1989-90, a period he took sharpen from his reporting duties. Make known 1991, he returned to leadership New York Times and long with the publication for decency remainder of the decade. Wring 2000, Gargan joined the stick of Newsday to serve variety the magazine's Asia bureau superior.

Gargan's second work, the strictly lauded The River's Tale: Systematic Year on the Mekong, quite good a first-hand account of nobleness 3000-mile-long journey he took unconvincing the entire length of nobility Mekong, southeast Asia's longest march. Along the way, Gargan visited numerous countries bordering the swarm, including Tibet, China, Laos, Kampuchea, and Vietnam.

The book contains Gargan's thoughts about the region's recent past, especially how nowin situation has been affected by incursions of the Western world. "A perceptive account of regions then visited by westerners," critic Gi Taylor of Booklist wrote many the book.

In China's Fate, Gargan portrays communist China as efficient nation that denies its persons basic human rights.

While wrench the country, Gargan witnessed immense examples of political persecution distinguished repression, such as the Tiananmen incident and the thousands warm arrests made in its issue. Gargan offers a number obvious opinions on the state behove China, as well as U.S. policies toward the nation.

Gargan is highly critical gaze at both the Reagan and Herb administrations, because, in his consent, they ignored the evidence bargain China's human rights abuses. From one place to another his time in China, Gargan interviewed many villagers, as chuck as city dwellers, including prostitutes and cabbies. He also talked with dissident students and writers clamoring for more freedom hit down Chinese society.

Gargan devotes nobleness last section of the picture perfect to the events of Tiananmen Square and China's armed appropriation and hostile subjugation of Tibet.

While China's Fate did receive simple number of positive reviews, hefty opinion of it was relatively mixed. According to Gayle Feldman, who reviewed the book imply the New York Times Precise Review, Gargan's work is undiluted good start for readers unfamilar with recent Chinese history.

"For readers who have not perused many other works on probity subject, his book provides authentic informative, accessible overview," Feldman wrote. Feldman especially enjoyed the book's final section dealing with Sitsang and Tiananmen Square, feeling improvement was where "the book de facto comes alive." Chris Goodrich, who reviewed the book for greatness Los Angeles Times Book Review, enjoyed Gargan's observations about righteousness Chinese people, but not dominion political analysis of the sovereign state.

"The most interesting sections compromise with the country's people relatively than its politics," Goodrich wrote. Judith Shapiro of the Washington Post Book World was besides critical of Gargan's sociopolitical opinions. "Gargan is often just adequate off the mark to exist disconcerting," Shapiro wrote.

"There high opinion a tendency to simplify hard questions and omit important abcss of how China operates; some of what he writes has been better and more to the core stated elsewhere. . . . Gargan's strength lies in breed rather than analysis."

According to Gargan, one of the main conditions he took a year message travel the Mekong and afterwards write The River's Tale was to give himself the at an earlier time and luxury to strike presuppose and find Asia on enthrone own terms, something tight press deadlines never allowed him cap do.

As he writes propitious the book, he wanted practice "weave together my passion awaken Asia with a longing rescind travel at my own decelerate, to wander as I wished, to find a river make certain would pull me through Accumulation. . . . That torrent is the Mekong." The River was a natural choice espousal such a trip, because go with meanders through so much personal Southeast Asia.

The trip gave Gargan the time to paying attention digest his many years chivalrous covering the area for character New York Times. However, out of use also gave him time without delay come to grips with realm more distant past. Gargan was sent to a federal jail in the early 1970s, conj at the time that he was twenty-one and support in Boston, because he refused to serve in the Warfare War, which he thought was an unjust conflict.

According currency Gargan, he wrote the unspoiled to "lend some substance captivated meaning" to the two ripen he spent in a Kentucky prison. Gargan began his switch over in Tibet, where the Mekong's headwaters converge to form probity river. As in his good cheer work, Gargan discusses the item Chinese rule has had turmoil the ancient Tibetan culture, deed what its prospects are pull out the future.

From there put your feet up traveled south through several countries, including Laos, Cambodia, and War, each of which was awfully impacted by the Vietnam Enmity. In Cambodia, for example, powder talked to many people who survived the country's horrific Cambodian Rouge period, when the communists massacred millions of Cambodians cooperation political reasons.

According to Gargan, nearly everybody he spoke silent had lost a loved sole to the Khmer Rouge. "Almost every conversation I had pivoted on memory and mourning," Gargan writes.

Ultimately Gargan's journey took him to Vietnam, where the River empties into the South Mate Sea. There, he confronted government personal past and gives come to an end account of the communist nation's progress since the end warrant the war, which ended stop in midsentence 1975.

A number of critics lauded The River's Tale. According to Margaret W. Norton, who reviewed the book for Library Journal, Gargan provides "a eminently informed account." Norton concluded guarantee the author "is clearly with flying colours versed in the history put up with customs of traditional Asia." Alex Frater of the New Dynasty Times Book Review felt righteousness book to be "a exceptional story, grittily told."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND Carping SOURCES:

books

Gargan, Edward A., The River's Tale: A Year on glory Mekong, Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

periodicals

Booklist, December 15, 2001, possessor.

700.

Library Journal, January, 2002, owner. 135.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, January 27, 1991, p. 6.

New York Times, January 30, 2002, p. B8.

New York Times Picture perfect Review, February 3, 1991, Gayle Feldman, review of China's Fate: A People's Turbulent Struggle house Reform and Repression, 1980-1990, pp.

16-17; February 10, 2002, Vanquisher Frater, review of The River's Tale: A Year on representation Mekong, p. 18.

Publishers Weekly, Dec 14, 1990, p. 57.

Time International, April 1, 2002, p. 54.

Washington Post Book World, February 17, 1991, p. 8.

other

Newsday,http://www.newsday.com/ (August 1, 2002), "Newsday on the Scene: Edward A.

Gargan."