Troy Parfitt is a Canadian

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and traveler who focuses on critical travel commentary and cultural exposes. He grew up in

New Brunswick, Canada New Brunswick is a province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to the west. It is part of Eastern Cana ...

but has lived in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and has taught English as a second language in East Asia for twelve years. He wrote two books, called ''Notes From The Other China'' and ''Why China Will Never Rule the World''. As well as this he also taught History for a year in Scotland.

Reviews

Reviewer Bradley Winterton in the ''Taipei Times'', reviewing his first book, described Parfitt as a "bad traveler, an insensitive loud-mouth ranting on about the absurdities of life ''abroad''". Reviewer John Burroughs described it as "travel commentary and cultural analysis." Reviewer Alan Caruba in the ''Canada Free Press'' described Parfitt as his "own man" with an "eye for detail and a talent for describing his journey in ways that do not ignore some obvious and ugly truths about the real China." Reviewer Terence P. Ward of ''AllBooks Review'' wrote that Parfitt is "fluent in Mandarin" and "brings a lot of information to the table" to back up his claims about China being filthy, overcrowded, with unimaginable poverty, and "pollution so thick that it obscures the sun". According to Ward, Parfitt argues that "China is romanticized, and cannot possibly ever rule the world because its population is willfully ignorant, poorly educated, and clueless about the world beyond that nation's borders." ''Vancouver Sun'' reviewer Jonathan Manthorpe agreed with Parfitt's conclusion that "China is unlikely to be an influential

superpower Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to Sphere of influence, exert influence and Power projection, project power on a global scale. This is done through the comb ...

because its current regime has no vision, its economy has developed no capacity for innovation, and there is no sense of optimism" as well as Parfitt's assessment that "China is a gloomy, bitter,

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

and ill-favoured place."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parfitt, Troy Living people Writers from New Brunswick Canadian travel writers Writers about China 1972 births