The core of this book is an examination of four narrative (shuochang) genres performed by professional artists in Tianjin in the mid and late 1980s: Tianjin shidiao (here translated “Tianjin popular tunes”), Jingyun dagu (“Beijing drumsong”), kuaibarshu (“fast clappertales”), and xiangsheng (“comic routines”). Each receives a chapter to itself, with each chapter structured similarly: an opening vignette describing a performance the author witnessed; then a discussion of the relative importance of chang (singing) and shuo (speaking) in the genre in question, along with detailed analysis of the linguistic and musical structure of one or two representative examples; and, finally, a short section on “hidden discourses” or “hidden messages” in the genre. This structure is driven by two major research interests outlined in the second chapter: how music and language interface in these genres, and the communication of “extra-semantic and extra-musical information that is hidden in or disguised by the delivery style of performance” (p. 14). This core set of four chapters (seven to ten) is prefaced by six mostly brief chapters that tell us how Lawson conducted her research, give the history of narrative performance, describe social hierarchies and interactions in 1980s Tianjin, and usefully set out the necessary linguistic and musical basics. Ten appendices provide libretti and transcriptions of the principal examples discussed in the four core chapters (including the tracks on the CD), along with a helpful explanation of speech tones in standard Mandarin and Tianjin dialect, and a Chinese character glossary.

There are many strengths to this book. To the novice audience member (especially foreigners) many shuochang arts are aesthetically highly attractive, yet it can be hard to work out how the whole comes together. The detailed transcription and analysis really helps the reader understand how these genres are structured. The ability to marry up the CD tracks with texts and transcriptions is invaluable, as is Lawson's careful noting of indigenous terminology and concepts. The photographs are well chosen, many showing distinctive gestural features of shuochang performances, with two historically notable examples from the 1950s. Particularly useful are several photographs in chapter nine; these illustrate the complex clapper techniques of kuaibarshu, which are explained with laudable clarity in the text. Lawson's attention to dialect and language use provides interesting insights and interpretations – for example, the “celebration of Tianjin culture … [in] an otherwise Beijing-dominated world” suggested by the use of Tianjin dialect and dominance of local musical characteristics in Tianjin shidiao (p. 76); and answers to the intriguing question of why the “highly cultured art form” of Jingyun dagu attracts many “relatively uneducated” fans (pp. 93–95).

While this book was published in 2011, the fieldwork on which it is based was carried out principally over academic year 1985–86, with brief return trips in 1987 and 1991. The author states up front that her research is “a snapshot … from the middle to the end of the 1980s” (p. 3), and that she is not aiming at a detailed historical study of the narrative arts (p. 5). This is fair enough, although sometimes the use of the ethnographic present may raise eyebrows. For example, given the dismantling of the job assignment system in the 1990s and widespread doubts as to the continued economic viability of government-run arts troupes, it is surprising to be told that “[w]hile graduates [of the Academy for the Northern Chinese Narrative Arts] are assured employment in one of the professional narrative troupes in the north China region, many students resent not having a choice in selecting where they would like to live and work” (p. 29). This is one symptom of what I find most puzzling about this study, namely that the author does not seem to have made a return visit to Tianjin since January 1991, and that only about ten entries in the bibliography date from after 1992. Reference to the quite large number of internet sources on shuochang genres is also absent. Even in a study intended as a “snapshot” of a crucial period of time, a final chapter bringing us up to date with the huge changes that have taken place in the last 20 years would surely be appropriate.

Several other quibbles come to mind. The basics of Chinese concepts such as “face,” the “five relationships,” and guanxi are belaboured perhaps more than is necessary for the likely readership; some readers might wish for more detailed biographical sketches of the major artists discussed; and tantalizing references to the author's own lessons in two shuochang genres could have been expanded to give more sense of the learning process. There are also quite a few typos.

Nevertheless, this book has much to offer specialists in Chinese music, literature, social history and popular culture. Above all, it is one of very few English-language works that address the musical side of shuochang arts. To find Lawson's other work on this topic, it should be noted that she has published under three different names since 1988: first, Francesca C. Ferguson; next, Francesca Rebollo-Sborgi; and, currently, Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson.