林向田
每個人都有很多故事，我們喜歡聽故事也喜歡講故事。從故事裏我們可以得到感慨，共鳴，力量。
《紅色賭盤》在9月7日，先以英文版麵世，出版前夕，沈棟接到前妻段偉紅（Whitney Duan）的電話，希望沈棟可以停止該書出版，並且說這本書會害死人，而且要沈棟注意孩子的安全。沈棟在出書前，曾經接受幾家外國媒體訪問，包括紐時和華爾街日報，沈棟說：“他寫書目地是想知道前妻下落，果然前妻段偉紅出現了”。
下麵是我翻譯的讀者BarRouge的書評：
了解當代中國的必讀書——一位勇敢的作家的真實故事
我碰巧在《金融時報》周末版上了解到這本書，並在它首次發行時訂購了它。這是任何人想了解當代中國（即2005年後WTO）如何運作的人的必讀書，尤其是了解中國國家資本主義如何創造了財富。大多數關於中國的書都有點“理論性”或更具曆史視角（即20世紀60年代的文化大革命或2000年初的《中國先生》）。這是一個非常個人化和真實的故事，講述了一個人在上海和香港長大，在美國接受教育，並經曆了後WTO的中國繁榮期，在2008年北京奧運會前後，他是一名企業家，利用紅色貴族的影響力建設機場物流。為了充分披露，我是華裔美國人，同時也在中國的私募資金公司工作。我讚同作者寫這樣一個個人故事，展現了作者是如何冒險、適應、頑強地在中國複雜的商業動態中航行。這本書是關於中國過去/現在的活生生的曆史。這本書講述了一段與中國崛起並行的個人曆程，也說明了價值觀衝突是當今世界緊張局勢的根源。這本書應該是東亞/中國研究領域任何人的必讀讀物，從另一個角度來看，這本書也同樣有趣，讓華裔美國人了解他們如何能夠或為什麽不能在中國成功。
這是 BarRouge Review 的英文鏈接：Must read to understand China since 2010 - an authentic story by a courageous author
為了方便華二代了解這本書摘錄幾個Editorial Reviews
"A memoir that shows how the Chinese government keeps business in line -- and what happens when businesspeople overstep...Red Roulette shows how government officials keep the rules fuzzy and the threat of a crackdown ever present."
--The New York Times
“Full of fabulous titbits….It’s [the] level of detail on Beijing’s inner workings—published in English for the world to read—that has clearly spooked the communist high command….A singular, highly readable insider account of the most secretive of global powers.”
—The Spectator
“The machine was right to be worried. Large scandals of the recent past are revisited in Red Roulette… [The book] details an elite China built on secrets and fear, in which family ties are one of the only reliable bonds of trust.”
—David Rennie, The Economist
“Red Roulette was already shaping up as a must-read account of corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. But the sudden reemergence last week of Whitney Duan, Shum’s former wife, four years after disappearing into apparent arbitrary detention in Beijing, has made the book a news story.”
—POLITICO, China Watcher
“A deliberative, slow-building, suspenseful narrative that reveals numerous insights about the mechanics of power and greed… Observers of contemporary Chinese affairs, consistently intriguing and murky territory, will find much to interest them here. A riveting look inside ‘the roulette-like political environment of the New China.’”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Students of Chinese politics and business will appreciate Shum’s personal narrative of China’s turbulent economic rise; this book deserves a wide audience.”
—Library Journal
“Powerful and disturbing…The Chinese government will not be happy with this book. Desmond Shum lifts the curtain behind the supposed Chinese economic miracle, portraying government leaders driven by corruption, conflict of interest, and greed. Rarely has anyone in modern China been brave enough to violate its oppressive code of silence and give an honest firsthand account of what really goes on in the corridors of power. Shum breaks all the rules so we can see it for ourselves and it’s not pretty.”
—Bill Browder, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Red Notice
“Red Roulette is everything those who follow China have been waiting for: a deeply personal epic that reveals the idealism, ecstasy, and avarice of post-Deng Xiaoping China…There simply isn't another inside history of today's Chinese leadership like this one. If it spawns a new genre of Chinese personal histories—as I hope it will—Red Roulette will remain the classic of its category. Desmond Shum’s book is riveting, moving, and dangerous.”
—Matt Pottinger, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
我也看了你介紹的《魷魚遊戲》，非常的感慨，回頭寫寫。