Note to America: Be kind to China. Although some would consider it treasonous to compare the United States to a canine, as Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp found out in 2001, there is one metaphor in which the comparison is understandably accurate. When it comes to imported goods, the U.S. would do well to not bite the hand that clothes, equips, outfits, entertains and does everything but feed it. Otherwise the U.S. would be faced with a consumption draught of biblical proportions, the kind journalist Sara Bongiorni encountered in writing her book A Year Without "Made In China".

The plot is exactly as the title describes. The author, and by proxy her husband and two toddlers, make a New Year's resolution to give up goods that bear the label "Made in China" for a calendar year. The reader's reaction to this concept will indicate either his or her knowledge or naivete when it comes to the global economy. If nothing else A Year Without "Made In China" should cause every person to go nearly blind staring at objects around the house to see if they are, in fact, made in the land of the dragon. Readers will likely find the same result Bongiorni discovered: almost every square inch of the average American home is dominated by objects that are manufactured in China. In some cases, the Chinese have a near monopoly on particular products. When the author gives repeated examples of Chinese dominance in everything from toys to clothing, statistics about the millions of American manufacturing jobs lost to Chinese competition suddenly become more daunting.

A Year Without "Made In China" would be an unlikely candidate for the title of business book. As Debra Wishik Englander, executive editor for publishing giant John Wiley & Sons points out, "There would seem to be a finite number of topics to cover — from insurance to real estate, to investing to job-hunting, to management and more." However, Bongiorni's unconventional approach to a business book makes it exactly the kind of read for which executives long. It's not another dry examination of the perils of middle management. Bongiorni is eccentric to say the least, but she knows how to weave a well-crafted tale. After months of grinding through business books for choice nuggets of inspiration, executives (and an editor or two) will be delighted with a title that entertains while it educates, and what a lesson there is to learn.

Most executives are well aware of the impact of the global economy. Incredibly cheap, many would say inhumane, labor combined with profit-boosting breaks on raw material costs make China an almost irresistible trade partner. It is a painful riddle that plagues Bongiorni as readily as it would any consumer with a social conscience. Americans as humanitarians deplore the thought of products that are made on the broken backs of Chinese sweatshop laborers. On the other hand, Americans as consumers are unwilling to pay the higher prices that would help pay the wages, medical and dental of U.S. workers to make the same product. Besides, even if Americans were to demand U.S. produced goods, the huge profit margin gap would still make China the favored son of the board room. While the author doesn't offer a set of solutions to make manufacturing less China-centric, her struggle to avoid China and its goods should force executives to take a closer look at just how many of their company's eggs are tucked into the red and gold basket.

Depending on one's point of view, A Year Without "Made In China" could pull double-duty in listings for "Horror" and "Business" books on Barnes & Noble's Web site. Whether it's Bongiorni's harrowing search for birthday candles made anywhere but China or the grim reality that the United States' trade deficit with China rocketed up 25 percent in one year, there is plenty to keep a reader's palms slick with sweat. Perhaps the scariest moment in the book is an open-ended statement made by an expatriate friend of Bongiorni. "One of these days," the friend tells Bongiorni, "China is going to get sick of selling stuff for nothing ..." What happens if this occurs and suddenly the manufacturing and labor costs (or more likely corporate or government avarice) drive up the prices of Chinese goods? Americans can scarcely open a newspaper without a politician or protestor begging the U.S. to break its dependence on foreign oil. If A Year Without "Made In China" teaches nothing else, it's that a day may come when a lack of oil is the least of the American consumer's problems.

A Year Without "Made In China" by Sara Bongiorni is under consideration by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. If you'd like to subscribe to Soundview Executive Book Summaries, please click here.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries
P.O. Box 896 - Concordville, PA 19331 USA
1-800-SUMMARY - http://www.summary.com