NONFICTION - Nov. 18, 1990

STRONG DRINK, STRONG LANGUAGE by John Espey (John Daniel: $17.95; 148 pp.) . John Espey’s previous memoirs of growing up in China follow a classic literary tradition: publication first in The New Yorker, then in book form by Alfred A. Knopf. The current volume, published 40 years after the originals by a small Santa Barbara press, is similar to its well-reviewed predecessors--which turns out to be a problem, for its charm is rooted in an era too recent to prompt identification and too distant to inspire nostalgia. Espey, a retired UCLA English professor, describes his adventures as a youth in Shanghai and elsewhere--learning to ride a bike, playing doubles tennis with his father, developing his own political views. In the nicely titled “Even Comedy Must End.” Espey shows how Oxbridge acquaintances on a trip to Ceylon in 1935 completely misunderstand the natives, and though the vignette is agreeable, like many of the pieces here, it begs for fuller treatment.