"Very big, China." - Noel Coward. Scholarly and scatological, this cornucopia of fun and wisdom is a breathtaking picture of speech, thought and images from the world's richest and oldest culture. ON THE SMELL OF AN OILY RAG gives an insight like no other into how English-language and Chinese-language cultures collide, contrast and illuminate each other. It's about what is lost in translation and what can be gained by it.