Zoom Out by Peter Maize ISBN 9789889836269 | | Chameleon Press | September 2005 | HK$72.00 Buy this book from Paddyfield.com

"The mistake people make is assuming they’re in control of their lives." So says a mysterious storyteller in Nepal who offers to help a young adventurer with his quest for enlightenment. The young man unwittingly alters the life of an ambitious TV journalist in Hong Kong, and their paths converge on Beijing during the crest of the Tiananmen Square democracy protests. ZOOM OUT charts the intersecting journeys of a driven young woman and a lost young man; journeys that wind through Asia, addiction and occasional absurdity. "[Maize] ... has a pleasingly cynical eye. It's apleasure to for once to read a book in which the city and it's people are reported accurately, if not too favourably." -- South China Morning Post "The penetrating portrayal of life in Asia keeps the pages turning" -- HK Magazine

Review: The Asian Review of Books