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Expatriate Games - 662 days in Bangladesh | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Trenowden
Publisher: Derwent Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1318179
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 312
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1846670012
Dewey Decimal Number: 291
EAN: 9781846670015
ASIN: 1846670012
Publication Date: October 31, 2005
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Product Description
Bangladesh is a destination for only the most battle-scarred traveller. Henry Kissinger's infamous basket case label is not entirely unfounded, and it is against this backdrop that the autobiographical account Expatriate Games takes place. In 1995 Mark Trenowden, recently 'retired' from the wine trade in London, packed up his life in Britain to follow his Canadian fiancee, Brenda, to her new and extraordinary place of work. This is the true story of the hardships, frustrations and fun experienced by the foreigner living and working in Bangladesh. It explores the strange world of the expatriate abroad, in which Mark and Brenda attempt to lead a Western lifestyle behind closed doors without compromising their role in the local office they are striving to create. Expatriate Games charts a fascinating and engrossing voyage of discovery. The author's look at Bangladesh is both critical and sympathetic, with any exasperation accompanied by a willingness to see people as individuals. Whether you are a seasoned expat, soon to be posted abroad, or just an armchair explorer, there will be plenty here to entertain, terrify and amuse you!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Review published by Holiday Magazine Dhaka January 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In black and white - by Hasna Abdul Hye - Holiday Magazine Dhaka
This is a reprint of `Expatriate Games' the first full-length book written by a foreigner on life in Dhaka, which in itself is a distinction. That it is based on the author's experiences of two eventful years in the mid-nineties and not on the impressions of a short touristic visit makes it all the more unique. From the beginning to the end the book is totally absorbing and immensely entertaining. The book is likely to offend the Bangladeshi readers at first because of the author's apparent lack of sensitivity and dislike for many of the familiar fixtures of life in Dhaka. But with his disarming humour and frolicsome behaviour the author is bound to worm his way into their hearts soon. It does not take long to discover that though reeling from cultural shocks in his early encounters with individuals, sights, sounds and smells, the author's good-humoured nature gets the better of ill-feelings and turns every experience, however unpleasant, into an occasion for enjoyment of joie de vivre. His mocking attitude and sarcasm give way to his genial predisposition for fun and amusement. The child-like pranks and juvenile delinquency that he indulges in from time to time brings to the fore his comic sense of life in general and expat life in Dhaka in particular. Using humour at every turn he makes fun of everything including himself. At the end he emerges as a very human "Bideshi" who enjoyed every moment of his expat life in Bangladesh. He may even have loved Dhaka warts and all. Otherwise why should he bother to write on the two years he spent in Bangladesh.
It is more a book of adventure than a chronicle of daily life lived abroad. In keeping with the spirit of adventure, the author maintains a frenetic speed in narrative and creates suspense intermittently, both of which keep the read glued to the pages. The book starts with the hilarious account of the author's participation in the orientation course arranged by his national airline in London for passengers who are afraid of flying. His narration of the experience of being mobbed on arrival at Zia International Airport will thrill and terrify those who are yet to go through this ordeal. His experiences in and around the hotels in Dhaka are none too enticing for the uninitiated. But the reader will not fail to appreciate the author's penchant for observation and curiosity about the surrounding environment. Rather than being cooped up inside the hotel, he prefers to venture out and get the hang of things and measure up fellow beings.
Mark Trenowden, a British citizen, accompanied his Canadian born fiancee, Brenda, to Dhaka when she accepted a job in a multinational company dealing with portfolio investment. Part of her assignment was setting up the branch office in Dhaka. With great relish, the author narrates his success in wangling the high-sounding job of office administrator beating other unemployed expat spouses who would accompanying their loved ones to Dhaka soon. The task entailed by the job measures his natural propensity for adventure and thrill. The search for an apartment to live in and membership to an expat club adds to his roller-coaster and rollicking routine. Faced with unforeseen situations and procedures that appear outlandish and bizarre and obstructed by bureaucratic red tape, he alternates between agonized raving and mischievous pranks. It does not take long for him to be acclimatised to life in Dhaka and he learns the ropes required even for things taken for granted elsewhere. There are times when he behaves like a delinquent juvenile to beat the `silly system': multiple use of a one off letter issued by the Board of Investment to avail himself of VIP facilities, getting visas at the airport by pretending to have just arrived using an old ticket to enter the airport past security guards are some of these naughty acts that he commits without any guilty feeling. There are also occasions when his mood turns black and he behaves violently in protest against the dilatory tactics of government officials and the efficiency of private sector individuals. He does not even spare the British High Commission from his wrathful reactions. But whether working for his office or in his private life, the overriding sense of jollity prevails.
Looking for social life Mark Trenowden mixes mostly with fellow expats and some Bangladeshis. His account of the social life in Dhaka for foreigners is as informative as it is entertaining. Being curious, he goes out of his way to savour life in the raw in a spirit of adventure. His life in and experience in Dhaka embrace both the expat enclave and beyond. Gifted with the power of keen observation and natural-born skill of analysis he succeeds in a colourful portrayal of life in Dhaka and almost all its sights, sounds and smells captured. His expat life being spent in the mid-nineties, he is also witness to confrontational politics ending up with the rolling of tanks near the President's house, all of which find due place in the narration. It is the multi-dimensional character which makes the book highly fascinating. The most touching and endearing quality of the author is his attitude towards the ordinary and poor Bangladeshi's like his driver, cook (s) the street urchins and others. Despite being conscious of heath and hygiene, he does not hesitate to accept an invitation to visit the house of his driver Masum. It is these touches of compassion for ordinary Bangladeshis that bring out the best in him. The good thing about the book is that every event and all individuals as dramatis personae have a clear presence and there is no ambiguity about them everything is in black and white.
Holiday "The knowledge based newspaper"
(Published in Dhaka, Bangladesh) August 10, 2001
 Slippery and Superficial October 7, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I won't say I'm sorry to read this book, but it was disappointing to me. I hoped for more detailed and heartfelt descriptions of the country, people, and culture. The most descriptive Mr. Trewnowden gets is about a cricket game he played which went on for quite a few pages (not being enamored of cricket I skipped most of this). Few, if any, of the positive aspects of the culture were mentioned. I think the author and his wife suffered from culture shock most of the time which may be why the book seems to simply glide along their experiences by mostly highlighting misadventures in their quest for alchohol and club-memberships which would entitle them to drink. Mr. Trenowden, at times, does have a funny turn of phrase. I chuckled when he described the "bone-laced biriyani" that he was offered after the cricket game and enjoyed his resourcefulness at avoiding a flight in order to get his visa towards the end of the book. I did learn of another book I could read and about the American School in Dhaka. But I did not feel as I had traveled to Bangadesh with him.
 Did anyone even bother to edit this thing??? June 20, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Having lived in Bangladesh for a while myself, I found this to be an amusing read. Bangladesh is like no place else I've been, not even India. There are just so many bizarre and quirky things about the culture (bizarre and quirky to someone from a Western background, that is), and Mr. Trenowden's stories highlight some of the funniest results.
On the other hand, I was somewhat offended by Trenowden's lack of cultural tolerance. Bangladesh is a very frustrating place to live if you go there expecting it to function like a Western country--but eventually you learn to appreciate the ways in which it differs frome the West, which, in many cases, can be very refreshing (the slower pace of life, for example). Trenowden, however, spends what feels like half the book complaning about the inadeqacy of the country's decorators/dry cleaners/architects, etc. He never gets into local cuisine, because he's convinced it will make him sick. Only at the end of his stay does he bother to try to get a glimpse into what life is like for the majority of Bangladeshis, and it's a brief glimpse at that.
His attitude throughout the book can basically be summed up as, "I want to be as isolated from Bangladesh as possible while still living in Bangladesh." So while his account is probably a pretty accurate portrayal of how the expatriate community lives, it's a horribly uninformed, inaccurate, biased, and ethnocentric view of the country as a whole. I'd urge anyone who is thinking about taking a posting in Bangladesh to read this book as an example of how NOT to go about your experience. Bangladesh is a fascinating place, full of the warmest people I've met in all of my travels; if you give it a chance on its own terms, you won't be disappointed.
(And in things not related to content: Did anyone even bother to edit this book??? It is absolutely swimming with mistakes--misplaced commas or, more often, a total lack of commas, or periods beginning new sentences where commas should be, etc., as well as some sloppy writing here and there. I'm talking multiple times per page. It's like someone just transcribed Trenowden's personal journal and sent it off to the printer. It was distracting, and I was a little frustrated that I'd spent actual money on this thing, when the publisher couldn't even be bothered to have an editor read it through once. But I digress.)
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