Feeding the Dragon

A deeply revealing memoir of big wins and hard lessons from a seasoned executive caught smack in the middle of the trillion-dollar soft power struggle pitting China against Hollywood, the NBA, and American business.

"Paced like a thriller, . . . Chris Fenton's bracingly candid business memoir Feeding the Dragon takes [listeners] deep behind the scenes of Hollywood's shaky foothold in China. Dealing at the highest levels with Chinese government officials and major American brands like Disney, Marvel, and the NBA, [Fenton] defied authorities on both sides of the superpower divide to make billions—and history.

Thanks to a brisk, [engaging] storytelling style and an evenhanded, insider-level perspective . . ., Feeding the Dragon manages to be both timeless and timely. Captivating details on Robert Downey Jr., LeBron James, Kurt Cobain, [and] Michael Phelps, . . . (among others) will enthrall average fans and aspiring moguls alike. But the beating narrative heart remains Fenton's down-to-earth recounting of a headline-making journey. Ultimately, the intrepid exec builds a compelling case for the power of "cultural diplomacy": mutually-beneficial, soft power-sharing exchanges as a better way forward than the hardliner battle lines being drawn across Beijing, Washington, and Los Angeles." —Jamie Bryan, Fast Company contributor