Chang Books

This book gives great, inexpensive ideas for throwing showers. Every detail from the theme, to the invitations, to the drinks and food you serve is covered. Most of the ideas can actually carry over for birthday parties, too. Worth the purchase.

Hi, I liked this book for the ideas in it, but the author doesn't give you how to make the invitations to go along with the ideas or how to make favors to match, etc. If you are wanting more of a "project" oriented shower book, don't buy this book. This book is more of an "idea" book. Now, there's some good recipes in the back, but that's about all this book seems to be good for as far as "project" orientation goes. I would suggest a different Bridal shower book if you want projects to make. Thanks.

I bought this book just for Shower ideas - and it also had recipes! I loved it!!

I enjoy all of Karen Bussens' books. They are elegant,beautifully photographed and full of wonderful ideas. Perfect for anyone who loves to give parties, entertain, or is just creative in general. You do not need to be involved in wedding planning to need or even enjoy these books. A very good buy!!!!!

This book was very helpful and planning wedding showers and the pictures were awsome. The main reason i bought the book was for the pictures, they give you great ideas for all kinds of things. A bonus of the book is that in the back it tells you where you can buy all the products u see in the book. If youre looking to plan a shower and need help with themes, games, information, resources, then this is definitely the book for you.

I would not use this book as a guide for tips to help your baby sleep. It doens't give you home remedies or anything, it's more of a cute entertaining book giving common sense suggestions. Beautiful pictures though.

This is a perfect baby gift for new moms! It's full of great sleeping tips that are offered up in an easy to read, fun format. The baby pictures are beautiful and the tips are really encouraging and seen through the eyes of a real mom. I highly recommend this for any mom of a newborn! My mom has already given it as a gift and I will too!

This is my favorite book to give any new or expecting mom!
The sleeping techniques are practical, simple, and caring.
The photographs of sleeping babies are just beautiful!
I purchase several copies at a time so I always have the perfect gift to give! Mom's (and dad's) love receiving them as much as I enjoy giving them.

What a great, fun book! The first one not to make new moms feel guilty if their baby isn't sleeping and offers real tips on how to make it work.

I was so pleased at the condition of my book when it arrived, great photos, write up on Alvin Ailey and the many dancers. Also very timely too considering where it traveled from. I was very pleased. You will not be disappointed!

this is a delightful book to own for anyone who loves and respect the art of dance. what better book to have than an american icon dance company like alvin aliey.great addition to ones book collection.

I have always loved dance, and especially Alvin Ailey! This book is wonderful! The photographs are vivid and beautiful. For those who have not experienced this dance company, this is a nice introduction to it's history.
Love it!

My only "complaint" with this book is that the compelling photography kept distracting me from the text! I finally gave up and leafed through all the photos first, then went back to read the text, which provides a good overview of the company's philosophy, founding spirits and various major dancers. Highly recommended for lovers of dance or photography.

Chang has done something really important and necessary in writing this concise and comprehensible overview of Hwa-Yen philosophy. I'd recommend this to any student who wishes to cultivate a deeper understanding of the Avatamsaka Sutra and the elements of Mahayana thought that culminates in Hwa-Yen.

The first reviewer says skip this and go to Thomas Cleary. I would assume that means "Entry into the Inconceivable". I have both actually, and I like "The Buddhist Teaching of Totality" better.

To me, the Cleary approach seems to be just to pick you up and dump you right into the middle of things. By page 24, you're already into the four dharmadatu's. These are very subtle concepts that require serious preparation to understand deeply. They may be interesting doctrines if you're into that kind of thing, but I personally like to see how all the pieces fit together. In that sense, I'm totally lost. The Garma Chang book covers a lot more basics before going into the heavy stuff. The pace may be slower, but in the end, I have a much clearer picture. And after that, the Cleary book becomes much more palatable.

Another reviewer mentioned that Garma Chang seems to think he knows everything. I don't know, but from the writing, it's clear that he has a great deal of personal experience on the subject at hand. His discussion on emptyness, for example, is particularly subtle and insightful. Thomas Cleary, on the other hand, doesn't seem to show much opinion of his own. Much of the "Entry into the Inconceivable" text is translated from Chinese works. Same goes for his translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra itself as well. Even the introduction is paraphrasing of Chinese text. Not that translation is not useful of course...

A bonus included in the Garma Chang book is an almost complete translation of "The Great Vows of Samantabhadra". It is important because it's supposed to give one a good feel for what the complete Avatamsaka is like. It is the last part of the Forty Hwa Yen and is often treated as a separate sutra on its own. (It's also classified as one of the Five Sutras of Pure Land) And it's not in Cleary's English translation of Avatamsaka Sutra, which is strictly a translation of Eighty Hwa Yen.

In any case, I'd probably get both books. They serve different purposes. Seems to me that the person who says to skip this one is treating the meaning of the books as self-existent and real and therefore their relative merit should be completely self-evident. We all know that is not true right?

The Hwa Yen school, which drew chiefly from the Avatamsaka Sutra (translated by Cleary), emphasizes Dharma from the perspective of realization, or enlightened mind. Like the Lotus Sutra, The Avatamsaka Sutra is equally an evocation of a state of mind as a presentation of information. The Hwa Yen thinkers of Sung China used this as their starting point to paint a dazzling portrait of our universe filled with mind-blowing images and rich ideas.

This is a pretty good introduction to Hwa Yen Buddhism, although the reader will have to wade through a fair amount of unapologetic sectarianism. Hwa Yen, we learn, is the "highest" and "most advanced" form of Buddhism, and Chang clearly considers himself to have full knowledge of what Buddha "really meant" in his teachings. Despite this sometimes tedious lack of modesty, the book is a good overview of the history and doctrine of this school. Given the unfortunate paucity of material on this intriguing movement, that is a welcome addition.

For an easy ride, visit Disneyland. C.C. Chang's study of the Hua Yen is a demanding work, because it presuposes that the reader wishes to find such insight - through practice. The Hua Yen Ching is said to have been expounded immediately after the Buddha's own enlightenment. It is one of the few sutras that actually endeavour to hint about the enlightened state itself- positively, rather than obliquely, by referring to it in relation to what it is not (viz. asrava, klesa defilements, trsna, dualism) - the 'neither-nor' aspect. Hua Yen deals with the 'mutually inclusive' dimension(s) of totality. Beware! Too many Western writings on Hua Yen (Kegon) jump straight into shih-shih wu ai - the 'non-obstruction between thing-events.' But actually, without insight into li-shih wu ai, seeing 'form' as grounded in the kung or 'void' aspect, nobody knows anything about shih-shih wu ai. C.C. Chang had the best Chinese and Tibetan teachers. He writes with authority - because he writes with eperiential insight into what the Hua Yen teaches. I've savoured Chang's work for 25 years, yet it remnains as inspiring and stimulating, as the day I first saw it. A lifelong study this. Find the meaning in your own experience. Candy is for the kids!

Chang does nothing but rave angrily, sometimes supplementing her rage with biased studies and liberal "logic." She finds fault in the United States in every way possible and holds no one else accountable for the situation immigrant women are in.

The book is poorly written and is hardly debatable as the amount of left-wing propoganda is insurmountable.

If only every person in public office today could read this book, and take it to heart... The authors waste no words arguing about an unseen traffic in women's labor that barely sustains them, and their families.

In Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers In The Global Economy, writer and activist Grace Chang persuasively counters arguments in favor of curbing immigration and eliminating access to education, health care, and welfare as she exposes the racism and misogyny directed against female immigrant workers in American society. Chang also highlights the unrewarded work immigrant women perform as caregivers, cleaners, and servers, showing how these women are actively resisting the exploitation they face. Disposable Domestics is highly informative, recommended reading for feminists, unionists, immigration policy makers, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in immigration issues, economics, women's rights, and fair labor practices.

In Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers In The Global Economy, writer and activist Grace Chang persuasively counters arguments in favor of curbing immigration and eliminating access to education, health care, and welfare as she exposes the racism and misogyny directed against female immigrant workers in American society. Chang also highlights the unrewarded work immigrant women perform as caregivers, cleaners, and servers, showing how these women are actively resisting the exploitation they face. Disposable Domestics is highly informative, recommended reading for feminists, unionists, immigration policy makers, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in immigration issues, economics, women's rights, and fair labor practices.

If you already have some idea of authentic Chinese cooking and are looking to get away from Americanized dishes, this book is a great resource. One of the main things I like about it (and use it for), is that it includes recipes for a lot of ingredients that you might only find in a Chinese market and that are not included in a lot of English Chinese cookbooks, even the authentic ones. E.g. there are recipes for red cooked pigs feet, pork stuffed fuzzy melon, lotus root, etc, as well as the standard lion's head and so on. It is not a book to really teach beginners how to cook authentic Chinese food, especially as there is minimal, though precise, instructions. For that (for English readers), I would recommend Angela Chang's "Chinese Home Cooking" as a good introduction. But this is a great resource.

I do sort of prefer cookbooks with pictures, but I actually am glad this one doesn't have them as it contains so much information instead.

The index covers Chinese (pinyin) and English, though i only can use the English part, I think some might find that helpful.

Another plus is the recipes don't use MSG. My one complaint with the book is that the recipes do sometimes come out too salty. I would recommend halving the salt and using low sodium soy sauce, as well as being aware of the salt content if soy sauce and salt are included in the same recipe.

This book really is the book to own for chinese cooking. I have recently tried several recipes and was really happy with all of them. The book is pretty stark--ingredients list and very simple directions. But it has hundreds and hundreds of recipes. If you enjoy cooking, this book will give you tons of great ideas for recipes of your own. If you happen to get a copy, don't give it up, because it's out of print.

I have the original 1970 edition of this work and was looking for a copy for a friend. It's worth giving to those who appreciate real Chinese food. It's a very stark book - not much text at all, and the recipes are of the "Add A to B to C" type, but if you are competant in the kitchen, then you only need the ingredient list, anyway. It's truly an encyclopedia - its collection of dishes are complete, and the regional information is given for each. This book makes it criminally easy to plan a Cantonese dinner party or a Mandarin luncheon and to be assured of doing it right. All in all, my copy is perhaps the most well worn kitchen reference I own.

This book is the most complete and interesting book of authentic Chinese cooking I have read in years. The first step are the photographs and information of Chinese foodstuffs. Including the pronunciation of the chinese form of the namme and how and where to find them. This gives the timid a flying chance at getting things right. Then on to the recipes. While there is a distinct lack of photos in this book, the assembly and cooking instructions are quite precise. The tastes are very good. Although they do not do much with Americanized meals, you can put one together once you are familiar with the book. They include diatetic recipes as well as vegetarian. I have bought all the copies I could get my hands on last time I got to the bookstore and gave them as presents. It is worth the effort to hunt it down.

A friend showed me this book that she had given to her mom for Mother's day this year. I needed a Thank You gift for my mom for all she has done for me and my family recently. This was perfect! I wish it wasn't out of print because I think this is a great gift! It was thought provoking in terms of memories. I tried to think of all good stuff. I know as a mom I doubt myself and my actions all the time so I thought it would be nice to show my mom that my perception of my childhood wasn't all bad at all. There were lots of good times and these were my perceptions of them. It goes from asking what your first memory was to the time you laughed the hardest to the best advice she gave you to being a mom. There are spots for photos, but I didn't use those because I scrapbook and all of my photos are in books already.

I got this as a gift for my mom. It's a pretty little book with some nice writing prompts and empty pages for putting in photographs. I just wish it had some plastic sleeves for photos, and perhaps a few more colors (it's only got like 3 colors of ink - mostly blues on cream). Some of the prompts were a bit pointless ("What was my favorite color as a child?") but most of them are sweet. The end of the book is about the child as an adult, having children of their own. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to give a book of memories to their mom. Just make sure you have photo corners ready, because the book doesn't come with them!

I purchased this book for my brothers & sisters to write in it about our memories with our mother to give her as a gift. I think it will be a beautiful gift when we give it to her. I would love it if my children gave me a gift like this!

Each page has lots of space to write about certain memories such as:
-My first memory is
-I remember when you taught me how to
-One of our funniest moments together was
-The time I missed you most was
-My favorite holiday or birthday present was
-My favorite foods you cooked were
-My favorite children's book was
-My favorite family vacation was
-The most powerful lessons you ever taught me were
-I wish I'd listened to you when
-The time I needed you most and you were there for me was
-You were a wonderful grandmother because

There are 46 different memories to write about as well as pages for photographs. I think this is a great gift to any mother!

What a great idea for a book! This is an easy way to create a very personal and happy book of memories for your mother. The prompts are both serious and light-hearted, and the design elegant. I would also recommend it as a family project for mother's day ... its better than flowers or chocolates!

This is a book I shall return to again and again. The poems encapsulate the tenderness and passion, the light and shadow, of life's journey. The images are compelling ~ recognizable yet mysterious, accessible yet elusive ~ which is why I shall always go back.

Tina Chang, Half-Lit Houses (Four Way, 2004)

In my review of Brigit Kelly's The Orchard, I talked about lighter reading, and I didn't necessarily mean that in a bad way; some poetry is brilliant, but light reading (and no, cod help us, I'm not talking about light verse); Li-Young Lee's stuff comes to mind. It's got all sorts of depth to it, but you can read it for the surface and still get something out of it. Those who wish to pursue deeper meanings may do so. Everyone's happy. The vast majority of poetry falls into either this category or that of Kelly, where you're basically forced into deeper meanings.

Tina Chang seems to fall somewhere in the middle, which is exceptionally rare. There are pieces here that force the reader into needing to look deeper, but they are few. There are pieces that can be read for surface beauty alone and have the option to go deeper, but they, too, are few. The rest of the pieces here sit in a place in between those two things, and it's a place I'm not quite sure I know how to describe. Wherever it is, it's delicate and beautiful, and Tina Chang deserves a far, far wider audience than she presently has.

This is poetry of family, stretching back from before Chang's birth (at least, if the one passing reference she makes to the age of a narrator is to be taken as her own) to the present day, presenting the stories one hears about families with a rich history, doing so in a lush, precise language. There's not a single poem in this collection that misses the mark. It's easily one of the two or three best collections I've come across this year, and is well worth your time.

This is a very unusual first book of poems, which is to say that Chang's work displays soul and depth beyond her years. In this collection, she explores boundaries both physical and metaphysical: these poems deal with memory and imagination, with family and duty, with the body and its failings. She employs language that is is fertile, lush with images of things living and non, whole and broken. Often the deadly and the delectable are blurred, indistinguishable; in "Fish Story," Chang writes:

"...My father thinks you are delicate
as he steals the eggs from the purse
of your bely, white interior exposed and steaming.
I think of you breathing before the slipping out."

The narrator of these works speaks often of the absence of the father. Her recollections of girlhood, which often take on a visionary tone -- like ecstacies, of a sort -- are colored by this loss. Even so, the melancholy tone of the poems is tempered by an equally powerful, often divine sense of exploration, an opening. Throughout these poems, things both sacred and profane are exposed, examined, forced into the light:

"I must admit I opened each egg to see
a tragedy inside that fueled song. Everything I owned
was held hostage in my beak."

The natural world forms a kind of mad tapestry in which the poet wraps herself. Plantations, backyards, rivers, crickets, chickens; things burned, bleeding, growing, blooming; everywhere in these poems life and death are intertwined, and exquisitely rendered. Highly recommended.

Tina Chang's book is satisfying on so many levels, the poems are lyrical, smart, sensual, with a strong sense of place and spirit. each poem is unique yet the experience of reading the book builds and leaves you feeling like you have experienced a complete work from a distinctive writer. Tina Chang succeeds at putting forth a sense of the historical and the personal, a talent few truly have. you feel a part of something larger, at the same time anchored by the details of her world. this is a beautifully realized collection.

Although the history of TaeKwonDo is often hard to pin down, this book goes into great detail for the forms of the Chang-Hon (Chon-Ji) system. For instructors, it's great to assign to students for reading and learning about this marital art.

I wanted a bit more explaination of the movements in each pattern and the purpose for them. This book discusses the history of each man for whom a pattern is named after which is great for someone working toward becoming a black belt or an instructor, but it doesn't do much for someone who wants to learn the patterns movements.

Very well written and interesting book. Contains lots of information that even TKD instructors should know. The written subject matter precisely matches the title - very fine job. Well worth the money. Now Mr. Mitchell - we need history on remaining 15 patterns!

This book is an excellent source of reference material for the Taekwondo stylist who follows the Chon-Ji patterns and wants to learn more about the characters, history & events that the patterns are named after. It goes into great depth & includes an interesting selection of photographs & diagrams that helps to bring the pattern meanings to life. This book is a must have copy that should be in the bookcase of every serious student of the ITF patterns.

This book is my very favorite chocolate cookbook. All the recipes that I have tried taste incredible and the instructions are very clear. The recipes include step-by-step directions which I find easy to follow. I agree with another reviewer that if you want to make the chocolate decorations you need special equipment, but the regular recipes use common kitchen utensils. The Fudgy Brownies are the best I've ever tasted. I have not had a single recipe fail. Every recipe packs a full chocolate punch leaving no doubt when eating these desserts that they are Chocolate. I highly recommend this book.

I adore cookbooks, particularly those dealing with chocolate or desserts. Some books are a disappointment, though, because the recipes are poorly defined or too many are unappealing. "The International Chocolate Cookbook" has many wonderful recipes that will appeal to the chocoholic and the `normal' audience. Complex techniques are carefully explained, step by step, with hints to understand WHY the chef needs to follow these directions. I particularly love the creative ways to use chocolate suggested by the author. She details how to make boxes, `birds nests', leaves, small bowls, and more - all out of chocolate. To add to the enjoyment, the author gives descriptions about where the dessert comes from and what makes it so appealing. The pictures are stunning, and are part of what convinced me to buy the book originally. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a cookbook to guide them through the complex world of chocolate

Nothing is as wonderful as a cookbook full of chocolate recipes. Although there are a great many of them available, truly good ones are not that common. Unfortunately, this book cannot be numbered among the good ones. While it is a pretty decent collection of chocolate recipes, this cookbook has a few problems with it.

This cookbook is not for the average person trying to do some baking in his or her kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. The majority of recipes require a fair amount of culinary skill to successfully execute. Some of the recipes are fairly easy and can be done by anyone. Unfortunately, the book does not warn the reader as to which ones are easy and which are more difficult. Some of the recipes, especially the ones involving chocolate sculpture, are very advanced and require some near-professional skills in order to successfully finish.

Another problem is that of equipment. You will need a kitchen well stocked with a wide variety of baking tools and equipment. The book does not have a list of the things you will need. It seems to assume that you already have the proper equipment. Also note that you must have a large, professional food processor and a stand mixer in order to complete most of the recipes.

On the other hand, there are several positive factors. All of the recipes have been thoroughly tested. The instructions are unusually complete and correct, making for some recipes that are very long in length. The description of the various types of chocolate in the introductory chapter is one of the better and more reliable ones. It is also a great source of the elegant patisserie recipes that make dramatic statements; such recipes are not easy to find among standard chocolate cookbooks.

In summary, this is a pretty good collection of chocolate recipes. It also requires a good inventory of culinary skills that the average person probably does not have, so the chances of success will be variable. I cannot recommend it for the average person. If you are already a good baker, however, this book is an excellent source of reliable chocolate recipes.

Recipes include tortes, cakes, mousse, souffle, cheesecake, tarts, icecream, cookies (big section), brownies, a big candy section, and chocolate decorations.

This book won the 1991 IACP baking and overall book of the year. I think it's a good book But I think that there are better chocolate books out there. From the presentation point of view, this is the least impressive of the 4 books I own (cocolat, death by chocolat, chocolate bible). There aren't nearly as many pictures in this book. It's paperback, even though you get the other books in hardback from amazon at the same cost! This book recommends that you add vegetable oil to your mixture to make chocolate ruffles, something which makes it easier, but wrecks the taste. No help in understanding other ingredients like in Cocolat. On the other hand, there are many nice recipes, and there is a little section above each recipe which gives either understanding or a neat history behind each recipe. As with the other chocolate books, I'd recommend having another book as supplmentary material. So, overall, this is a nice book, but a notch below the other 3 chocolate books I own.