The details of what Psalmanazar had to say about Formosa, or Taiwan, are not of great interest in themselves. Much of it was derogatory, describing mass child sacrifices and cannibalism. This gives Keevak the go-ahead to point to the prejudice among 18th-century Europeans against anything from beyond their borders, and their quickness to "construct" all non-Europeans as savages. He writes well on this, but it's hardly surprising to read that some of his Taiwanese students object to his displaying any interest at all in such a fraudulent and insulting figure as Psalmanazar, who had no first-hand knowledge of Taiwan.
In reality there was a certain amount of knowledge about Taiwan in 18th-century Europe gathered by the Dutch and others, and Psalmanazar was careful to integrate this with his own wilder fantasies (such as his claim that classical Greek was taught in the island's schools).
Keevak doesn't claim to have unearthed major new material in The Pretended Asian -- there have been books on Psalmanazar before -- but he is astute in his analysis of the limited evidence about him that remains. He's also exceptionally meticulous in following up subsidiary references -- his footnotes are mines of information in themselves.
Also, the National Taiwan University Library contains copies of 18th-century books relevant to this subject and Keevak, as someone who has long labored sorting its oldest collections, has naturally been able to use material, such as original illustrations, held there. He dedicates his book to the library's staff.
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