Finding Miss Fong, James A. Wolter
Finding Miss Fong, James A. Wolter
List: $15.70 | Sale: $10.98
Club: $7.85

Finding Miss Fong

Author: James A. Wolter

Narrator: Jason Pawson

Unabridged: 12 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/01/2024


Synopsis

In 1961, Jim Wolter leaves medical school in Chicago for Malaya thinking he could change the world by teaching biology and avoid his mother's dream of his marrying Lolly. He's excited about his new job as a biology teacher at a secondary school in Malaya. But that excitement is short-lived. After he arrives, his bosses pull a bait-and-switch and put him in teaching jobs he isn't qualified for and create other challenges to fit their own motives. Disappointed and feeling helpless, he decides to return to Chicago and do what is expected of him. That is, until a friend drags Jim to a work picnic on an island in the South China Sea and he sees the most beautiful girl in the world. Now, Jim wants to stay in Malaya to be near Miss Fong Moke Chee.Finding Miss Fong is the journey of a naïve twenty-two year old from the northwest side of Chicago trying to find his way in an unfamiliar world back in the early 1960s. As a biologist from a working-class background thrust into post-Colonial Malaya, he finds himself caught up in unexpected adventures while struggling with disillusionment in work and juggling entanglements in love.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Richard on January 16, 2024

I really enjoyed this lovely detailing of a family from the standpoint of a young man going off into the world and being in the Peace Corps, going to another culture, dealing with the difficulties of language and culture and maneuvering through a world of egos, politics, and bureaucracy. I found this......more

Goodreads review by Feathered Quill Book Reviews on November 07, 2023

When author James A. Wolter took the bold step to join the Peace Corps in Malaya in the early 1960s, he little imagined the adventures that awaited or the romantic tide that would overwhelm and transform his life, and now those experiences have been bundled together into his new book, Finding Miss......more

Goodreads review by Literary on September 04, 2023

Set against the vibrant backdrop of the 1960s in Malaya, now known as peninsular Malaysia, Finding Miss Fong is the journey of Jim Wolter, a character pulsating with life-changing aspirations and determination. The novel begins with Wolter abandoning medical school and the insistent matrimonial arran......more

Goodreads review by Flora on November 09, 2023

Reading “Finding Miss Fong” reminded me so much of when I first started working. We had Peace Corps volunteers! James A. Wolter’s story of his time in Malaya as a Peace Corp volunteer brought back fond memories and made me realize how much I value their contributions. I chuckled at some of the funny......more

Goodreads review by Misty D Raines on August 31, 2023

What a lovely read! James Wolter was a Peace Corp volunteer in the 1960s in Malaya...young, hopeful and perhaps, a bit naive, Mr. Wolters enters the Peace Corp to change the world as a science teacher in post-colonial Malaya. Upon arrival, he becomes disillusioned after being placed in a school wher......more