Washington Books

In the last weeks of the Reagan administration, clueless ex-congressman Charles Dingleman, dumped by his district's voters and by two ex-wives, is now floundering in a private sector law firm. A ray of hope arrives in the form of a possible appointment to the prospective Dukakis White House. But over lunch, Dingleman offends an over-reactive young associate, Judith Grust--first by leering at an underdressed woman, then unaccountably trying to recover via a piece of movie repartee that once worked out great between Broderick Crawford and Virginia Mayo. (If I were a dog and you were a steak, I wouldn't care, Dingleman remembers the line--"or something to that effect.") Dingleman's bungled rendition is actually even worse than that (I worry that if I were a mangy dog and you were roast beef. . .). Worse still is how Judith's ear memorializes it ("Something about raw meat").

She complains to an inept founding partner, whose reflex for putting out the fire is to lie to her that Dingleham knows he has a disorder and is getting treatment for it. Grust, though, is still haunted by the violation she's been through, and convinces herself that in the national interest she must forward the information to network news anchor Reynolds Mund. (The dull welfare reformer she's begun dating, while gazing at Judith's bare upper leg, agrees to make the actual phone call.) Dingleman is soon a jobless pariah, and enlists the blundering, high-priced publicity firm Big Tooth to restore his good name.

The locus of this firm brings into play a whole third-person world of losers and climbers, all fatally human, many of whom will eventually fail upward in what seems to be a sort of train-wreck historical dialectic. ("Put the lazy bastards to work is my thought," Dingleman eventually says about welfare reform, and the former liberal theorist he's talking to feels "a sort of primal agreement.") Everyone is basically in over his head; everyone but Dingleman bluffs having slightly more connections than he really does. Poor slobs are undone by their concealed masturbation fantasies--and in a different book we would feel that a brave, timely statement about forgiveness, hypocrisy and human nature might be made.

The book's only frustration is that Frank's comedy is so smart, one suspects this could have been just as funny and possibly more serious as well. The farce is all too believable, and the humanity Frank draws with his left hand is better than most of us could do with our right. But the book pulls up somewhat abruptly, in a world that bumbles forward without real breakthroughs or breakdowns.

Frank's voice is acid but somehow weirdly sympathetic. Each biographical sketch lingers on the perfect note of self-importance, each physical description contains the perfect repellant flaw. The Russian Expert Suzanne Smule "smiled a wonderful smile, and Hank understood her charm at once. She wore a dark green suit loose enough to hide her stocky body. She was also wearing a perfume he'd never smelled before, a mixture of lilac and olive oil, and he noticed a long scar along the base of her neck." A mediocre couple "had not had many serious conversations, although now and then they talked about having a child. Many of the people they saw at their offices had children, and sometimes, when they watched television, they would imagine how nice it would be to watch television with their child."

When Gorbachev visits Washington, the elderly lecher Alfred Schmalz tells Judith excitedly "that he'd seen the Russian outside the Soviet embassy and had never felt so hopeful about the future; he could imagine his grandson on a playground with little Russian children, jumping rope in a peaceful world."

In case the point has not been driven home, most, if not all, the characters are betting on plum jobs or profitable connections in the wrong candidate's administration.

Jeffrey Frank is a brilliant novelist specializing in acid portraits of a totally loveless world, one in which people bump into each other but never connect--either emotionally or sexually. In a Frank novel one always feels that one is observing the world through the wrong end of a telescope; the characters are infinitely distant from us, and from the narrator. We identify with these characters only at our own risk.

Frank has for some reason disowned his own early novel, *The Creep*, which I recall (very well) reading in high school, circa 1968. This novel is in the same mold; the only difference is in the specificity of the portrayal of the Washington D.C. lobbyist/think tank/legal milieu. But the utter alienation of the male characters, and the frigid but caustically funny style through which they are depicted, remains unchanged.

If you enjoyed, or were obsessed by, *The Creep*, check out this novel; it's like meeeting a dysfunctional friend, 30+ years later, and finding out where he's been.

In this period of anxious anticipation of the 2004 presidential campaign and general election, we can learn a great deal from those political campaigns of the past and that includes the late '80s. Or maybe we can't. I'm not sure.

Since Jeffrey Frank's earlier novel, "The Columnist," was a big hit at our house, not to mention our whole neighborhood -- okay, maybe the entire Washington, D.C. area -- we are really looking forward to reading his new book.

We would have done so already, but we're waiting for it to arrive in shipment from Amazon.com.

We gave it four stars, only because we haven't actually read it yet. Who knows? After reading it, maybe five stars. We'll see.

I lived in Washington D.C. once upon a time, but that --- or the fact that I was once married to a washed up politico -- has absolutely nothing to do with why I LOVED this hilarious novel. Well, perhaps a tiny bit. But personal experience of the various and dreadful games in the Nation's Capital, or even your basic lobbying law firm, isn't necessary in order to enjoy this wicked, wicked book. You'll scream with laughter. I did.

This book tells how to confront the harasser. If the harassment continues, the legal steps are covered. For an employer, it provides information on policies, complaint procedures, training sessions and monitoring to prevent harassment.
NOLO Press is noted for making legal information accessible to ordinary people. This topic is something that every supervisor and employer needs to be briefed on.

As an employment attorney and human resource consultant who trains organizations on harassment policy, I use this book as a great reference material. I often suggest it to supervisors who want to know more about how to deal with this complex and difficult problem....

I found the book to be pretty straightforward and easy to read. It gives all the pertinent information on the subject from the law to how to stop sexual harassment to your legal remedies. One of the best features is that provides an array of case studies that clear up a lot of the gray areas. I used the book to help me develop a training on the subject, I recommend it to anyone who needs more info on the subject.

Every business with employees that does not have a sexual harassment policy in place needs to buy this book now.

Actions the authors say employers need to implement regarding sexual harassment include: Do whatever it takes to understand the law, the issues, and keep current; put in place a zero tolerance sexual harassment prevention policy that prohibits specific behaviors of verbal harassment, non-verbal tactics, and physical harassment; take action to stop sexual harassment that does occur and prevent reoccurrence and reprisals.

Just wanted to say I've had this book for 8 years now and it is still one of the greatest treasures in my library. Thanks to the author for writing it. I just recommended it yesterday to another great writer of things Indian - pass it on. This book's a keeper.

Richard Lannoy's "Benaras Seen from Within" is a passionately insightful spiritual/aesthetic inquiry on the holy city of Kashi (Benaras). It is more a work of ardent love than a work of curiosity. It is more a work of the seeking spirit than a work of art. Teeming with the elusive cosmic energy that has pervaded the city of Kashi since times immemorial, his photographs and his insightful writings in this book are testament to his seeking soul, his acute eye and his brilliant mind that have fueled the creation of this monumental body of work.

Inspite of several scholarly and scientific studies undertaken of this holy city, Mr. Lannoy's work stands out as a unique and exhaustive seeking of its kind. For one, it is the result of a passionate dedication of a lifetime of love, energy and effort by this acclaimed Indologist. (It has taken him about five decades to accomplish this work). Being a trained artist, a scholar and a deeply insightful writer, his love for the country of India and his sincere reverence for the city of Kashi have all contributed effectively to create this spiritually rich and inwardly seeking work. His lengthy span of over five decades to research and document this book has been a boon to reflect on the ever-changing yet never-changing cosmic landscape of Kashi. (This is paramount to the unique quality of this work). Besides, it takes a deeply dedicated and spiritually aware soul to see through the distracting and distorted layers of the teeming microcosmic city of Benaras and to reveal the transcendental cosmic city of Kashi. It is amply clear through this book that Mr. Lannoy seems to be all that in addition to being a master photographer.

Through the lens, he has succeeded in capturing the elusively spiritual; the hauntingly mythic. (This, I think, is the most difficult and worthy achievement of a photographer.) His works in entirety are wrapped around this theme and are reflected all over in secret cues. His visual vocabulary effuses the language of the mysterious and taunts the viewer to search his pictures. Like Henri Cartier Bresson, he is the master of the moment, but very unlike Bresson, he is concerned with the spiritual exuberance of the picture than the merely aesthetic. His pictures are more felt than seen. Some of his successes enjoy a brilliant quality of aesthetic, insightful and the inwardly. Mr. Lannoy is also kind and reverent to the subject of his study. In his pictures, he seeks for deeper moments with the grace and expectancy of an earnest and seeking student. Pictures of the people and the abundant petite bourgeoisie are not pictures of the materially poor, but the spiritually rich. Some of his captured moments are events of everyday life : ceremonies, ablutions, prayers, journeys....yet moments that celebrate metaphysical insight and inquiry.

Through his pen, he offers a penetrative and insightful documentation on the holy city of Benaras. Steeped in myth, religion and spirituality; Benaras is one of the last remaining living ancient cities where visitors, pilgrims and scholars throng; attracted by the enigmatic energy that radiates in this place. As a peculiar convergence between the present and the past, the sacred and the profane, this pervading dichotomy of sorts presents a very unique challenge to the inquirer and Mr. Lannoy acknowledges this very nature by interspersing his works between words and pictures. In a sense, what cannot be conveyed with words is reflected within his pictures and what fails to be seen is written with acuity and ardor. With this hard earned creation of a lifetime, he seems to have collected the ripest and the most mystically beautiful fruit from the sacred tree of Kashi.

Mr. Lannoy's book is a seminal and masterly work of an artist and intellect in search of the soul of a cosmic city. In many ways, his works are reminiscent of the scholarly undertakings of the pioneer Indian art historian and original thinker Mr. Ananda Coomaraswamy. Like him, Mr. Lannoy is intuitively gifted in his ability to grasp the metaphysical leanings of his subject and writes with a passion and an inwardly conviction that years of patient seeking and searching have granted him.

I highly recommend this book for any student of artistic and philosophical seeking. For those in proximity to New York City, there is an exhibition of his works on display till the 8th of April 2000 at Sepia International Inc. Galley, 148, W 24 Street, 11 Floor, NY.

-Lokesh Muthuramalingam, February 25 2000, lmuthura@att.com

This huge book about India's most holy city has two parts, either of which would be worth the journey through its beautifully produced pages. In the first, hundreds of photographs are cunningly arranged to lead us into the ancient, wonderful city where the Buddha first began his mission. The images take us along lanes and ways, up to rooftops, among pressing crowds, and down to the sacred ghats by the River Ganges; where Hindus have gone for millennia to cleanse their sins and burn their dead. In the second part, we get a lively description of the inner life of Benares--and by extension, all of India. This book should be read by anyone interested in Hindu art and religion, but also by city planners and would-be travelers.

Remarkably, the book spans over 40 years of thought and effort by Lannoy-- with a great caesura between the early 60's and the present. How this happened is that Lannoy began his project in the early 50's and worked at it for over 10 years during extended residences in the city. Then he struggled to find a publisher who would take the risk of printing so many rich photographs. Struggled and failed, and the photos crossed the oceans several times in steamer trunks, before finally coming sadly to rest. Until 1998, when the old sage, painter, and author of other books that are scholarly classics at last turns his eye again to this troublesome love of his youth. Now he takes up his camera for the first time in years and, armed with new possibilities for small press runs, returns to Benares for fresh photography, contracts a Hong Kong printer, works furiously, takes a huge financial risk, and at long last publishes this unique masterpiece, on his own, exactly as he wants it.

The fifties, for Americans anyway, are remembered as a time of great cultural certainty. We recall images--often in black and white--of an uncluttered land, at once carefree and supremely purposeful. India, we learn through these photographs, had a golden age of its own in this same era. But while America's purpose was transcendent materialism, Indians, newly independent, could at last strive for spiritual fulfillment in their own land. We sense this confidence, somehow, in the pictures and Lannoy is at pains to point out their psychological portent. It is as if he were an art critic analyzing the imagery Indians create by assembling, unselfconsciously, for their rituals and pageants--imagery which he is skillful enough to capture. For example, I might not have perceived the spiritual melding in crowds assembled for ritual bathing without the convincing captions Lannoy provides. Nor would I have seen the change wrought between the 50's and the present, when crowds have lost their unity of belief and become mere collections of individuals.

"Benares Seen From Within" works as a coffee table book. Many of the pictures are conventionally gorgeous and certainly exotic. But the collection is much, much more. Photographs are grouped, according to subject, in a more or less straightforward way. But within the groupings are subtle structures and by-plays with the captioning. For example, in one section shows a series of contact prints (miniature photographs are used to effect in several places). They show a mural painter drawing a devotional subject while a sahdu (holy man) regales a group of followers with a parable. At the climax of the story, the caption informs us, the muralist draws the pupil of the eye-the moment the image gains a soul. "Oh" one thinks and turns the page. There is a charming picture of the river side and a veranda. Turn another page and pow! A sahdu leans forward with burning eyes and points right into the lens. This moment, one realizes after paging back, was the climax of the story. Elsewhere, Lannoy describes the excitement and difficulty of photographing the Naga Baba, but without saying exactly what the Naga Baba are exactly. For this, and much more, we have to delve into the pages ourselves.

Earlier books by the Lannoy (Speaking Tree, The Eye of Love) have established his credentials as a scholar of Indian art and culture. Here, we get a more personal statement, informed by the passage of time, and insightful of the disturbing changes underway. The text is rich and lively-and illustrated with additional photographs. Where the detail is overmuch for a first reading, the layout allows one to skip ahead; and meticulous indexing refers one to the photographs for fresh examination. It is rare to get a book of photographs that contains such easy scholarship and it is even more unusual to get art and religious history enlivened with photographs that are art in their own right.

For all the pleasure, we are never far from a grim sense that Benares is under threat. Due to pollution, the Ganges is now extremely unsafe for even the most stalwart bathers. Urban blight and traffic has savaged the ancient city plan. Lannoy looks at this unflinchingly. Indeed the photography often acts as a time-series showing decay and loss.

At this point, I should confess that I have known Richard Lannoy for many years-since he was my tutor at college in England over 20 years ago. I can recall him showing us students some of the photographs now published. Tarot-like, he would deal pictures out onto a cloth laid on the floor, intone on their meaning, then whisk them away for a fresh set. They created a spell then that still enchants. In the truest way, this book is a gift from Richard-a giving back and a sharing about a place at once loved and mourned. Lucky us that he was able finally to not only show the beauty of Benares, but sound an alarm for the future.

This landmark book is a life's work and sings a soul song of one of the most deeply beloved spiritual places, a place where religious life is still the center.

Lannoy's photographs have all too rarely been published, and this book would be a visual feast if only for the chance to see a master photographer at work, composing foreground and background moments simultaneously so that they breathe life and a story in a complete message.

The text is also the best piece of writing about Benares that I've read. So many books describe only the obvious and most prurient sites of Benares (the burning ghats, the naga babas) and miss the true depth and richness of the city. From this text and photographs, the reader looks at the numerous facets of this multilayered city.

I, too, must confess to having met and now knowing Richard Lannoy, as a fellow traveler in Benares, where I had the extreme good fortune to meet him and to accompany him on photographic jaunts throughout the city and its outskirts.

His running dialog about things Benarsi is a gift of the gods...For anyone who is interested in India, I would say this is the first and best book you should buy. You can learn more about the country, and a great city, from this book. An incomparable experience and hours of absorbing reading and looking...

Take 125 recipes from the areas hottest chefs and put them in one cookbook, and you've got a winner. Especially when the area is as vibrant in local ingredients such as Seattle with its seafood, Walla Wallas and cherries, etc.

Here are some nice offerings from this full selection: Pate de Campagne; Swiss Leek, Oat and Smoked Chicken Soup; Grilled Salmon with Lentils and Brown Butter Balsamic Vinaigrette;Pork Tenderloin with Bing Cherries and Mint; Coconut Curried Lamb Shanks; Baked Hawaii (with macadamia nut cake, coconut ice cream and chambord berry sauce).

Also includes a great Cocktails section.

The collaborative effort of Cynthia C. Nims and Kathy Casey, Best Places Seattle Cookbook collects 125 recipes from the most heavily patronized chefs in Seattle. Restaurant favorites such as Baked Oysters with Beurre Blanc; Heirloom Tomato Salad; Lemon Rosemary Biscotti; Fresh Blackberry Tart, Cadillac Margarita; and more come with exhaustively detailed preparation instructions to bring a luscious taste of Seattle into any home dining menu. The explicit text details the subtle nuances of each dish in this highly recommended resource for aspiring chefs of intermediate culinary skills and above.

The enchiladas, especially, were great, which they should be since it took one chef, two drunken sous chefs, and one person sitting on a stool shouting instructions about 2 solid hours to make them. But it was worth it.

I am not a cook, but after reviewing this book, i really want to be, not to mention that the recipes left me salivating. It may not be a book for the complete beginner but with some enthusiasm, the recipes in this book are very do-able. The side essays written by kathy casey are funny and informative and both authors clearly try to make the recipes understandable and do-able for the home kitchen. I am smitten with my kitchen and the tasty treats i can make in it. Thanks to Kathy Casey and Cynthia Nims for their tempting inspirations!

Great book. Definitely got me inspired. Highly recommended.

If you are weary of cycling the same old routes and are looking for something different... check this book out. Biking Puget Sound is a cool collection of 50 rides.

Whenever I try to invent a new ride on my own...the results have often been frustrating. Other guides seem lackluster compared to this one. Biking Puget Sound is thorough, easy to use, and best of all.... fun!

This book is all someone would need in order to select an enjoyable bike route anywhere between Thurston County and the San Juans. Thorness has chosen 50 different tours, providing for each a clear map, elevation profiles illustrating terrain, and an interesting narrative describing the route and distinctive sights along the way. Each ride is ranked by difficulty; mileage and approximate riding time are also listed. Ranging from easy to difficult and from 10 miles to 50, there seems to be something here for any rider. A special benefit of the book is thorough description of many routes in heavily populated King County but those for other locations are equally helpful. Bill has ridden every one, most more than once I'd guess. In his introduction he says, "We are fortunate to live in a cycling wonderland, with the beauty of nature found everywhere, from diverse city parks to agricultural valleys, from waterfront lanes to island coastlines to mountainous back roads." These settings are accessible to bicycle riders and Biking Puget Sound contains all the details.

The book covers city rides, the suburbs and country rides. My favorite part was the San Juan Islands, a great place to get away for the weekend. the maps are clear, the book is easy to read and the route guides are simple. You won't get lost. I'm just getting back into bicycling again and this book has inspired me. It's a good book from new bicyclist to experienced riders.

This is an immensely enjoyable book from a very talented regional historian!

Mark Opsasnick's fervent attention to detail is merged with a deep understanding of artistic and social forces that shaped rock music during the third quarter of the 20th Century. The result is a captivating account that is simply a delight to read and reread.

On the surface, Capitol Rock is a nostalgic, hybrid portrayal of the DC area's musical history: the people, the bars and clubs, the records and labels, songs, and most of all, the artists. On a deeper level, Opsasnick careful scholarship asks, "Why did these dissimilar artists make this new music? What were its roots? Why did people react so intensely?"

Unlike so many other books with an obvious thesis to grind, Opsasnick's presentation is literally in the rich details associated with the music and musicians. He avoids the intellectual posturing that dominates too many books about popular culture. Opsasnick simply gives you plenty of facts and lets you generate your own interpretation.

We need more from Mr. Opsasnick and more writers need to imitate his subtlety and comprehensiveness. In the mean time, also try Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman's American Popular Music from Minstrelsy to MTV, another very good book, though without the regional connections.

Essential and detailed history of the Washington DC music scene from the 50s into the 70s. A must-have for locals, but any music aficionado will enjoy this book; includes numerous details on many of the world's most renowned guitarists: Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Roy Clark, to name a few...This is my fourth Capitol Rock book - I keep giving them away to my friends and colleagues!

'Capitol Rock'is a treasure of memories for me, as Opsasnick, author, has painstakingly researched and documented the Washington DC music scene over a 25 yr. period.

Opsasnick provides facts about songs, musicians and clubs that are very personal to me. In the early 80's I did a little radio spot weekly and got to know Jerry Dallman who also had a spot. Until now, I was totally unaware of his major contribution to the 50's local music scene. More amazingly, I will never forget the original broadcast of the dance called "The Bug" that I watched on The Milt Grant TV show, and JUST learned from this book that Jerry wrote 'The Bug.'
Read about ALL the famous acts/artists Opsasnick lists who played at the Bladensburg Firehouse (WOW !!). Having grown up in PG County, it was thrilling to read about the history Opsasnick provided about the emergence (and demise) of each club.
There is even a chapter on my HERO, who many agree is the most talented AND influential drummer from DC's music scene.
What an awesome delight to read about the local musicians, many with whom I played, to follow chronologically, the migration of bands with whom each played, and to see who have become household names.
Opsasnick provides addresses, current and old, of many of the DC and MD clubs. This allows the reader to visit 'Stricks' (as I did) to see where artists like Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean, Roy Clark, etc held house gigs.
I'm fortunate to have gotten to know the author, and it is clear, learning how he does his research, that what he writes IS accurate.
Thank you Mark Opsasnick for providing this beautiful snap shot of a very exciting time when hillbilly music spawned rock'n'roll and in turn, rock.
Thank you for the 'whole' story. From the teenagers who learned to sing, play guitar and drums for the teen club dances, grow up and settle down, to the ones who developed their craft and made a name for themselves, this book immortalizes them.

Opsasnick spent countless hours in libraries poring over old newspaper nightclub ads and interviewing musicians involved in Washington D.C.'s very vibrant rock and roll scene. The book covers 1953-1976 and includes several interviews with such notables as Nils Lofgren(now in Springsteen's band)and Jack Casady (bassist w/Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna). Also covered are some genuine guitar heros such as Roy Buchanon,Danny Gatton,John Fahey,Roy Clark,and the incomparable Link Wray , as well as scores of other bands.
Evidently the DC area was a real hotbed of clubs and talent, especially in the Prince Georges County area,although the M.L.King assassination riots began to put the nail in the coffin for a lot of venues. The book concludes with the advent of the punk and new wave scene (Slickee Boys, Bad Brains, etc)and has some succinct decriptions of these bands , too. My only complaint is that this book could really really have used an index at the end!!
Hey, kids, did you know that Led Zeppelin played at the Wheaton Youth Center in January 1969?...that the'Milt Grant Show' predated "American Bandstand' as the first television rock show in 1956? Find out this stuff and more with 'Capitol Rock'!

If this review were about the man in the story, it would be five stars. Mr. Maxey did more from nowhere than any other person to fight social injustice. The book, however, is flawed because it saves Mr. Maxey's famous temper until later in the book, making it sound like Mr. Maxey was a calm person until later in his career.

Mr. Maxey's death points out that social injustice and degradation can haunt a very significantly successful person, even to the end of their life. His death should be a reminder to all of us that hateful words inflict pain for a lifetime.

Carl Maxey: A Fighting Life (V Ethel Willis White Books)

Carl Maxey grew up as an essential orphan. He was at one point kicked out of an orphanage for being black. Despite his Dickensian upbringing, Maxey went on to graduate from the Gonzaga Law School and become Eastern Washington's first black lawyer. In his second to last year in school, he was also the national NCAA boxing champion. This man single-handedly integrated much of Spokane and is one of the most dynamic, interesting figures of Washington state.

Even if Carl Maxey had not become a local hero, Jim Kershner's book would still be worth reading. Kershner shows, through Maxey's example, that one person can make a difference. Sadly, it seems Maxey was his own worst critic--he believed that he had not done enough.

Jim Kershner has used his considerable skills as a reporter to write a fascinating biography of Carl Maxey, one of the most charismatic personalities to come out of Washington State and Spokane. But the book should be of interest to readers well beyond the borders of the state of Washington. I would be very surprised if a copy of this book does not end up in many personal libraries and just about every law office in Washington State if not the entire nation. It reads much like a front-page story that just keeps getting more and more absorbing as the text continues on for almost 250 pages.

Carl Maxey, having been born to an unwed mother, and having been placed in an orphanage in Spokane eventually worked his way up to becoming a competitive athlete, a national collegiate boxing champion, a college graduate, and the first black lawyer in Spokane. His practice led him to appear in some of the most high-profile murder, anti-Vietnam War, and civil rights cases in Washington state. In 1970 he challenged Henry "Scoop" Jackson for the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate. In 1976 he was on the Washington State ballot for president as Senator Eugene McCarthy's stand in vice presidential candidate. He remained a fighter for civil rights and social justice until his death in 1997.

Kershner, in doing research for the book, utilized numerous newspaper sources, library records, personal papers and interviews with thirty Maxey family members and people who worked with him. Still, because he was so well known and came into contact with so many people, there are undoubtedly hundreds of people in Spokane and elsewhere who, when they read the book, feel, "Oh man, I wish Kershner had interviewed me I would have told him about ..."

Third in a trilogy of novels by Eleanor Morris Wu
that began with Losing Plum Blossom (2003)and The Black King (2004), A Conspiracy of nations (2005) continues the dramatic tale of an American war widow and her Japanese-Taiwanese lover as they are enmeshed in a web of sexual tension and geopolitical intrigue over the fate of the island nation of Taiwan. China's burgeoning international ambitions, Japanese dreams of resurgent empire, and covert American scheming to maintain a favorable landscape in a changing world pursue the main characters from Taiwan to Thailand, Romania, and Hungary, where converging forces propel the lovers to an unexpected, tragic climax (and set the stage for the novel's sequel).
Ms. Wu, like Louis L'Amour, never writes about a place she hasn't personally visited and experienced in depth, lending A Conspiracy of Nations a texture of reality that immeasurably enhances the dramatic action of the novel. The reader should not expect a fast-paced action-adventure fantasy like those produced by Eric Van Lustbader for teenagers and airport readers. Rather, A Conspiracy of nations presents a fascinating tapestry of psychosexual and political interaction across a vast and colorful global landscape - a novel more to the tastes of a mature, sophisticated audience.

"A Conspiracy of Nations" Eleanor B. Morris Wu's third and last in her trilogy on romance, power and politics in the Far East and Pacific.

Centred around Clarissa, an American who stayed on after her countrymen pulled out of Taiwan, this is a story of her romance and marriage to a brilliant surgeon which quickly evaporates as her new husband is ordered away and drawn into the games of the regions major power players.

In consolation, Clarissa takes refuge in her second love, poetry and readily agrees to read some of her works for an international poetry conference in Hungary, thereby setting off a chain of events that she could never have foreseen. Unbeknown to her, the circles in which her ex-husband now operates, are generating some very powerful forces and some of them will use anybody or any methods to further their aims. Clarissa has become just the sort of person they are looking for.

Follow her adventures and scrapes with disaster as she attempts to make the conference and stay one step ahead of her abductors in Professor's Wu's best to date. A great read with substance for both action and travel aficionados alike.

In this fast paced drama, Eleanor B. Morris Wu has designed a tale that marries the fates of nations to the lives and loves of two individuals, the Japanese-Taiwanese Ahmed Wang Matsui and the American Clarissa Carleton. The future alignment of power in Asia depends on the relationship between Ahmed and Clarissa. Across an international landscape that spans from Taiwan to Hungary, spies, assassins, government agents and a host of other characters make their influence felt in determining the outcome of this suspenseful thriller.

Underlying the romantic adventures of Clarissa Carleton is an intriguing historical and political perspective on the past, present and future relations between China, Taiwan, Japan and the USA. At stake is power and influence in the East Asia sphere, as well as the continued existence of Taiwan as an autonomous country.

Eleanor B. Morris Wu gives us a story that works well both as a romantic thriller in the tradition of Helen MacInnes, and as a thought provoking historical/political commentary.

"A Conspiracy of Nations" is an enjoyable read with substance to it. A most rewarding experience.

Eleanor B. Morris Wu is not your average American expat in Taiwan. A popular university professor at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, an anthropologist and a practicing poet, Morris Wu embarked on a trilogy of novels about expat life in Taiwan a few years ago, and she has just published the final installment, titled "A Conspiracy of Nations".

Like the two earlier books "Losing Plum Blossom" and "The Black King," the third book delivers the goods, with graceful writing, a gripping plot and a cast of characters that readers will care about.

"A Conspiracy of Nations" is 452 pages long, and it's a real page-turner from the get-go. The cover art sets the stage for what is a very accomplished novel by a local writer who is now a veteran novelist.

Morris Wu's earlier novels in the series were described by local reviewers as Taiwanese versions of "Sex and the City" or "Gone With the Wind," and this last installment continues the sexual politics on a global scale.

There's Clarissa, an American widow who, following the death of her husband in Vietnam, married a Taiwanese orthopedic surgeon. But that marriage was never a sexual match because her then-husband, Ahmed, was gay and had a lover who worked alongside him in a local Taipei hospital he practiced in.

Now, in the third novel in the trilogy, Clarissa and Ahmed are divorced, and this woman of the world -- a poet to boot -- has new dreams and new loves.

With a literary dash of Dame Barbara Cartland, the queen of British romantic fiction, and some James Bond-like international adventures thrown in for good measure, Morris Wu has written a fabulous finale to her 1500-page trilogy, and readers will be duly rewarded.

There are local settings inTaiwan, of course, romantic overseas adventures in Hungary, where Clarissa attends a global poetry conference to read her own work to a gathering of world poets.

Many of the characters from the first two novels of the series reappear here, so it's easy to dig right in and back get into the swing of things.

After a series of thrilling adventures in Bangkok and eastern Europe, Clarissa resumes her love affair with Ahmed in the picturesque lake district of rural Hungary, while all around them, political intrigue swirls and boils over into a plot structure that never loses its tension and romance.

So is it over, the Morris Wu trilogy?

"No, it's not over," her lovingly-created character Clarissa tells ex-husband Ahmed in a heart-breaking conclusion on the final page. "You have a world to make right, dear. I will be rooting for you ... for signs that you have been victorious, that you have succeeded in mending the international relationships of Japan and the UnitedStates, saving Taiwan and giving it a destiny that it can call its own."

Morris Wu is working now on a new novel, with some of the characters from her trilogy in the cast, and whether it will be part of a new series or a fourth part of what will become her ''Asian quartet'' remains to be seen.

At the moment, "A Conspiracy of Nations" -- a wonderful title, by the way -- puts the final touches on a hard-working Taiwan-based novelist's song of life! Well done, Professor Wu!

Professor Walker's book is a solidly researched, comprehensive history of the environmental movement in the Bay Area. Written in a clear, accessible style, the book covers a century of landsaving, from the early days of the Sierra Club to the exciting years from 1965-75 when most of our environmental protection laws were passed, to the recent use of land trusts , conservation easements, and urban growth boundaries to safeguard the Bay Area's precious green heritage. This book will stand, along with John Hart's "Legacy" and Amy Meyer's "New Guardians for the Golden Gate" as the canonical texts in the environmental history of California for years to come.

THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY: THE GREENING OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA should be a 'most' for any San Francisco Bay Area or comprehensive California library, whether it be a college-level or public lending collection. Students of California history and geography alike will appreciate this story of how the Bay Area's greenbelt was planned into an urban environment - and how each piece of it was fought for. From environmental battles which spread out to affect urban policies across the country to the involvement of businesses and individuals like, THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY is packed with insights on how early conservation affects today's urban environment, making it a fine pick for any collection interested in urban planning, ecology, or Bay Area history alike.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book really helped me understand the world I was born into--Berkeley in the late 1950s. As Richard Walker points out, that world reflected the work of countless Bay Area activists reaching back to John Muir. Many were civic-minded and dedicated women, and some started or built environmental organizations with national impact. This book describes it all: the people, the organizations, the issues, the victories (always temporary), the challenges, and the movement's shortcomings and unintended consequences.

Always attuned to class issues, Walker acknowledges that these movements were mostly led by upper-class folks and ultimately turned parts of the Bay Area (e.g., Marin) into lightly populated enclaves for the well off. Working families in the Bay Area have had great access to public parks and the coast, but activists so far have done little to impede the siting of toxic nastiness in low-income neighborhoods. Walker questions the link between efforts to slow or stop growth and the Bay Area's high housing prices, but he notes that the growth that has occurred--in the eastern part of Contra Costa County and the San Joaquin Valley, for example--isn't very smart and may be linked to the inner Bay Area's aversion to virtually any growth at all. At the end of the day, though, it's hard to resist Walker's conclusion that Bay Area residents have plenty to be thankful for. Highly recommended.

While this book was a bit academic and long on details, I found it a pleasant and easy read. I am a Bay Area resident and a NYC transplant and have marveled at the accessibility of the Bay Area's natural beauty and recreation.

I love the SF Bay Area for its beauty and outdoors and I wanted to know how it happened and who to thank. Now I know.

Another book worth considering, which is much more specific to the creation of one area is New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park

This book deserves its reputation as a classic. Redman's story-telling skills are wonderful, he writes well, and clearly explains everything going on in the sometimes arcane world of legislative procedure. He makes the dullest-seeming motions and committee hearings come alive.

Scholars of the Congress should read this, if for no other reason than to get a basic handle on how the Congress actually works, rather than how they think it works in fancy regression analyses. But more than that, it's the starting point for a whole genre of work such as Showdown at Gucci Culch, Conflict and Compromise, and The Bill (all of which are must-reads as well). Even a casual observer of politics can get excited and interested.

This book is the most informative and best written book I have ever read on politics. It's filled with humor and candid comments about the United States Congress.

This book makes me nostalgic for the days when Members of Congress cooperated & got things accomplished. Great vignettes of Maggie! Very accurate rendition.

The year was 1970, President Nixon was still in office, however, an intern by the name of Eric Redman was on hand in the halls of Congress to witness the fascinating dance of legislation as The National Health Service Corps was attempting to be born. This book provides a personal account of the birth and struggles of the attempt to pass a piece of legislation from within the private confines of who was then the second most powerful United States Senator, Warren Magnuson from the State of Washington. While the names have changed, the struggle for a balance between power, influence, and social consciousness and survival remains the same. This book is as fantastic look behind the scenes of the most influential body of power on earth contains the essential ingredients today as a quarter of a century ago. It is a must read for anyone with an interest in political legislation and stands alone in its own right as a factual story that is as fascinating and compelling as any! fictional novel you will ever read.