Name Zhu Di | Role Writer | |
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Books Thirty years in a red house, Tales of Judge Dee Education University of Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
Zhu Xiao Di (Chinese: 朱小棣; pinyin: Zhū Xiǎodì; Wade–Giles: Chu Hsiao ti, born 1958) is a Chinese-American writer. He authored a novel, Tales of Judge Dee, and a biographical work, Thirty Years in a Red House: A Memoir of Childhood and Youth in Communist China, and contributed to Father: Famous Writers Celebrate the Bond Between Father and Child, an anthology including contributions by Annie Proulx, John Updike, Dean Koontz, and Calvin Trillin. His latest work is in Chinese, a collection of over 60 essays, Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books (闲书闲话).
Contents
- Background
- Thirty Years in a Red House
- Tales of Judge Dee
- Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books
- Others
- References
Background
Born in 1958 in Nanjing, China, Zhu Xiao Di is a graduate of MIT with a master's degree in City Planning (1991). He also received a master's degree in American Civilization from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1989.
Between 1992 and 1997, he worked at the Center for Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He also worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. as a management consultant between 1995 and 1996. He has been at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University since 1997.
Thirty Years in a Red House
Thirty Years in a Red House (University of Massachusetts Press, 1998) was a Choice magazine Outstanding Books in 1998. Paperback came from the same press in 1999 and a new edition was published by Penguin Books India in 2000. Boston Globe calls it “a splendid lesson in 20th-century Chinese history,” and Library Journal says it is “engrossing and engaging.” The book is listed for further readings in MSN encyclopedia under the topic of "Communism" along with a few other books.
Tales of Judge Dee
Tales of Judge Dee continues a literary tradition created by Robert van Gulik who wrote a series of mystery books based on a historical figure in 7th century China, Judge Dee, who solved numerous amazing criminal cases and became known as the Chinese Holmes in the West. A professor of history at MIT gives a very positive review.
Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books
Leisure Thoughts on Idle Books (Guangxi Normal University Press, 2009) is a collection of over 60 essays covering books and people with influence in Chinese culture.
Others
Zhu Xiao Di is a contributor to Land Policies and Their Outcomes (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2007) and The Oxford Handbook of Pensions and Retirement Income (Oxford University Press, 2006), and his publications in academic journals include: “The Importance of Wealth and Income in the Transition to Homeownership”, Cityscape, a Journal of Policy Development and Research, 2007, “Do Homeowners Have Higher Future Household Income?” Housing Studies, 2007, “Do Homeowners Achieve More Household Wealth in the Long Run?” The Journal of Housing Economics, 2007, “Effects of Housing Push Factors and Rent Expectations on Household Formation of Young Adults”, The Journal of Real Estate Research, 2006, and “Does Housing Wealth Contribute to or Temper the Widening Wealth Gap in America?” Housing Policy Debate, 2005.
As a Senior Research Analyst, he has authored or co-authored numerous Joint Center publications. Recent contributions include: