About the Book
Tony Brasunas’s award-winning debut memoir is a portrait of life in China and a groundbreaking story of coming of age in today’s era of globalization.
Having never before left the United States nor taught a class on anything, armed only with a beginner’s grasp of the language, Brasunas arrives in a sultry Guangzhou classroom and is confronted by thirty-seven uniformed ninth graders.
After losing control of his tense classroom, losing money in dishonest street markets, and falling deathly ill in a decrepit hospital, a deep curiosity about Chinese culture drives him to connect with his students, to trust his human instincts in the chaotic streets, and to make friends from all walks of life.
When the school year ends, his curiosity burgeoning, Brasunas sets off with just a backpack across the vastness of China, along the Silk Road in the north, and into ancient Tibet in the west. His road brings terrifying perils, unexpected romance, and twists of fate that transform his understanding of right and wrong, beauty and truth, suffering and happiness.
In an inspiring and riveting adventure through the cities and hinterlands of a changing China, Brasunas meets people of all walks of life on their turf. At the same time, he explores the contours of his own heart and uncovers keys to human fulfillment. With adventurous range, inspirational tone, and global scope, the exquisite prose of Double Happiness evokes both Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love and Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild.
This is a journey across China and through the soul of a young American.
Posts
Read blog posts about Double Happiness, click here >
Excerpts
Excerpts of the manuscript have been published in China, a Travelers’ Tales Press anthology of travel writing on China, and in Travelmag, a British online travel magazine. Read the prologue, click here >
Publication
The book was published internationally in trade paperback, hardcover, and e-book in January 2014. The audiobook, narrated by Brasunas, followed in January 2015.
Awards
Double Happiness has won numerous awards. In July 2014, it was named a winner of the ForeWord Travel Book of the Year. At the Paris Book Festival, Double Happiness won best in Biography / Autobiography. In September 2014, the Living Now Book Awards (recognizing “Books For Better Living”) named Double Happiness best inspirational memoir.
Many other awards have followed.
Join the Journey
Double Happiness is for armchair travelers, English teachers, China buffs, adventure backpackers, young people in their twenties and thirties seeking a place in this swiftly changing world, and readers of all ages curious about a young man’s internal awakening in a foreign land.
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