Chang Books

the correct title is: "The Rebel Within: Joseph Stiglitz and the World Bank"

I understand this book to be a very clear description of what is missing in the way the international financial organizations address the problems of developing countries. But there is more to say about one of the core problems in our countries and that is the weakness or the lack of institutions and as a result of this ..corruption and worst....impunity. Politicians no matter what party..protect each other. A lot of people's money goes to the pockets of a few ... money that should be spent in education and health. Some of this money comes from the WB , IDB , etc...

Giving it a little more thought..maybe this kind of arrangement is the best situation for these corrupted third world politicians and for the big multinational firms and financial institutions that lend them money...to keep the people in poor countries ignorant and illiterate so that the big firms can keep their advantages with unlimited cheap labor pools. Sure , maybe this situation is viewed as a comparative advantage or just as business strategies by the big firms..but for our own politicians-gangsters ....this is a major crime and should be treated as such...If we just could !!!

Why keep lending money to be used by these thieves?? Well, maybe some goes back to the source...banking accounts in developed nations or comsumption of luxury goods manufactured in the hometown of some of the top brass in some Bank. Who knows?? Believe me.. ,it is not funny to see the son of some new-rich state official driving the last model Lexus SUV with your money!!! Why we the people do not do something about it?? How?? Going to the corrupted legal institutions or to the corrupted police?? Going to the streets and making justice with our own hands and then be accused of terrorists or leftist anti-free market mob and risk an invasion by the US Marine Corps??? Voting??? Give me a break!!! We often see on TV the prez of the USA drinking coffee and chating with some these third world politician-mobsters in his oval office ....Why???

Mr. Stiglitz certainly has clarified and explained the problems we face ...but the solutions are not easy to undertake. There are too many factors involved and the one that could make a difference...to change the mindset of the people...means nothing less than a mental rebirth and a total destruction of all cultural heritage....And this could take centuries....or some sort of dictatorship.... Is there any hope for us???

Stiglitz, who is the former Chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and Chief Economist of the World Bank, won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics (younger than Milton Friedman had been when he won his Nobel). This moderate pragmatist can hardly be called a soft leftie and yet his stinging attack on the IMF and the World Bank (both organizations intensely disliked by Republican rightwingers) is both surprising......and perfectly justified, in my view. He develops this theme more fully in his other book "Globalization and Its Discontents," while this small book is a good extract of his economic philosophy. In his many public speeches and statements Chairman Joe lends the full weight of his considerable authority to China-boosters and China-lovers everywhere. But his frequently expressed optimism of China's economic prospects is not his main point - he uses China as an example to show why and how you can avoid messing things up if you use the right methods.

This is a really nice book, gorgeous photo work, but I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more on Medicine Wheels in it. Nevertheless, it's a keeper.

This is a very beautiful and fascinating book. It has wonderful photographs of sacred sites in Canada and the United States, along with Native American legends about the sites. I highly recommend this book.

Saw this at a friend's house and had to purchase it. Incredible listing of magical places and spaces to visit from afar or plan to visit in person.

This should be a must for everyone's coffee table; the power of the places emanate from every page and suggests visions and answers that elders have found and preserved for us to investigate now.

The text looks at the famous and not so famous women who participated in the Civil War. It is written in a narrative format, more like a fictional text than a non-fiction. The book is filled with original pictures and short informational biographies of the most important women featured. The illustrations are very large and would be nice to use with an opaque projector when speaking about some of the women or events covered in the book. I also think it would be an excellent book for independent reading due to the format.

this book has tons of info on women and nurses in the Civil WAr

I bought this book while working on a Women's History project for college and also to help with Civil War living history presentations. Because this book is for young readers I have not used if for much more than an overview and to point out photographs (which are wonderful) during my presentations. However, I recommend this book for any young reader interested in history or teacher wishing to include more women into the curriculum. It gives a great overview of women's roles during the Civil War, how their lives changes, what roles they took on, and what struggles they endured! Now that is GIRL POWER!

This book has beautiful artwork, all cut paper, of the animals in the Zodiac story. I haven't read other books of this kind, but this one was used in my child's preschool class to talk about Chinese New Year, and all of the 4-5 year olds seemed to enjoy it a lot. I can see that kids would love to spend lots of time looking at the pictures themselves because they are so detailed and well-done.

"Story of the Chinese Zodiac" is retold by Monica Chang with an English translation by Rick Charette. The story is presented in a bilingual English/Chinese format, and features illustrations by Arthur Lee.

The book tells the story of a great race which determines which animals get to be part of the Chinese zodiac. A central character in the tale is the Rat, who hatches a cunning plot.

The illustrations really make this book special. The pictures appear to be photographs of intricate, beautifully colored paper sculptures. There are some really memorable scenes: the cat and rat lounging together; the majestic Heavenly God consulting with the Earth God; the arrival of the majestic, multicolored dragon; and more. Some scenes are rendered very cleverly; I especially loved an aerial view of the animals running through the trees. Overall, a great book for children (and adults!) who have an interest in myth and folklore, or who just love innovative artwork.

Pictures are colorful. Text is easy and fun for children of grade 1 to understand. Children were hanging on to every word. It's wonderful that the story is done in dual languages.

This steamy book captures the intimacy of the tango. It is a great gift to buy for any tango afficionado and even your lover.

Not only does the book have photographs, but also lyrics to Spanish songs along with the English translations. The lyrics tell stories of love,betrayal and recollection of a lost lover.

"Tango" is a stylish and sexy coffee table book for fans of the tango. It features 80 duotone (black and white) photographs by Isabel Munoz of dancers in various stages of tango. On the facing pages there are lyrics of popular tango songs, displayed like poetry, in both Spanish and English. A short story by French author Evelyne Pieiller prefaces and introduces us to the photographs and lyrics. Many of the photographs are erotic, and some are semi-nude, so this book may not be to everyone's taste. But "Tango" beautifully captures the drama and eroticism of this dance that was born of competition in the bordellos of Buenos Aires and has achieved -just enough, but not too much- respectability as it continues to capture the imagination of couples around the world.

I bought this book in Buenos Aires, I was looking for a tango book as a present for my tango teacher when I saw Isabel's book: it stood among all the others.. but it wasn't the right one for my teacher, it was instead the right one for my lifetime partner, my wife! So I bought two tango books that night in Buenos Aires...

If you follow the instructions in this book, you will never need anymore "sexpert's" advice, nor will you ever even consider taking "Viagra".

Jolan Chang, a chinese living in Stockholm, Sweden, gives a profound introduction into the ancient chinese philosophy of taoism and from this philosophy he derives a new way of looking at both love, making love and having sex.

He teaches, that the western way of "chasing" orgasm is unhealthy and contradicts the laws of nature, since "exaggerated" ejaculation can have some negative impact on males' well-being and health. According to Chang, "coerced" ejaculation is the most wide-spread cause of impotence. He says, that, instead of trying to reach an orgasm by any means, you should rather try to enjoy hour-lasting extasy with your partner,when you are sexually united with him or her, and that this will have an incredible positive effect on both your physical an mental health, and you will feel much better than after any orgasm. Furthermore this way of making love would reconcile man woman and end the "gender-war", since through taoism the woman will finally get the amount of love, care and physical satisfaction she needs, and the man is no longer forced to "prove" he is a "real man", since his fear of "failing" is taken away from him. Also no woman will any longer regard herself as "frigid", when she realizes that sexual satisfaction does not necessarily go along with an orgasm. It is to be well-noticed, that these ideas were developed in ancient China 500 B.C. !

In the second part of the book, Chang gives valuable tips concernig healthy nutrition, physical exercise and ethical behavior towards enviroment and nature, also based on taoist ideas.

Please note that there is also a "Volume 1" of this book called "The tao of love and sex", by the same author of course, which is just as worth being read.

This book is a phenomenol follow up to the "Tao of Love & Sex" and one of the best books I've ever read on the subject of sex.

For those of you who are unsatisfied with what you consider to be sex that has more in common with what animals do than the love and true communion of souls you are capable of...pick up both of Jolan's books. You won't regret it!

Just for reference though, you need to be a somewhat spiritual creature with an open mind for the message to really sink in, but if you are, be prepared for mind-blowing spiritual and physical connections.

Following the Tao of Love and Sex, this book provides information for women on sharing Taoist sexual techniques with their partners. Also shares Taoist secret of nutrition and fitness as they relate to sex

Lent to me by a friend to get ideas on using large planters Ifound A Tuscan Paradise to be an absolute delight to both the eyes andsoul. Not only is there beauty in the landscape photographs but of those indoors as well, how the home and its furnishings harmonize with the spendor of nature well attended.

Schinz's individual photographs are often masterpieces of composition, visual ships-in-a-bottle of perfection. They hold one's eyes like fine Impressionism.

If you have a friend who loves gardening, buy them this book! It makes me want to pack for Tuscany every time I think of it.

Wonderful photographs and a delightful text enable you to visit, in your own home, the very special retreat of two Italian perfectionists. Flowers, plants, pergolas match the very Italian Tuscan architecture, furniture and furnishings. A pure delight.

Lent to me by a friend to get ideas on using large planters I found A Tuscan Paradise to be an absolute delight to both the eyes and soul. Not only is there beauty in the landscape photographs but of those indoors as well, how the home and its furnishings harmonize with the spendor of nature well attended.

Schinz's individual photographs are often masterpieces of composition, visual ships-in-a-bottle of perfection. They hold one's eyes like fine Impressionism.

If you have a friend who loves gardening, buy them this book! It makes me want to pack for Tuscany every time I think of it.

I wanted to like this book, I truly did. But in the end, it left me completely unfulfilled.
Here is my main problem with the book. Many novels, as does this one, start in the present and then flashback to the past to see how the protagonist actually made it to this current place. However, in order for this to work, a reader's attention must be grabbed at the very beginning to make us truly wonder and care about how things became the way they are. In this book, the present (as it starts out) is very bland and uneventful. The past, as we find out later, actually had some good twists and turns. However, by the time we get to the previous events, we really don't care about the main character or his predicament.
While some of the descriptions are quite good and vivid, this short book will leave most readers completely unmoved.

This book freaked me out but in the best possible way. It was like reading a Cronenberg movie except it offered far more insight into the human side of the character than expected. On one level this is a groundbreaking novel exploring the complicated mentality of male sexuality and on another level it reads like a mystery but the outcome isn't as important as the journey. Dark stuff. Recommendeded with reservations, but it stuck in my head like few books have.

As unsettling as it is revealing, Undersurface is bold attempt at merging Hitchcockian mystery with social commentary. On one level it is a simple tale of mistaken identity, in which the protagonist finds himself living in sewage tunnels to escape capture for a crime he may or may not have committed; on another level it is a heartbreaking, sometimes surreal character study of a man losing his grip on reality. More than anything, it is the insight into the character's mind that drives this novel along. To say more could ruin the ending. I'll only add that this vivid, finely written book won't be for everyone, but for those who enjoy the melding of genres and well-envisioned plot twists it certainly won't be a disappointment.

2 friends bought me this book this year and I pored through the pages with a renewed fetish for volcanoes. As the cover page would tell, the pictures in there are really spectacular, making one wonder how they were even captured on paper! The variety is also varied enough to keep you interested - rather than yawning at the 203rd crater. From hellish looking magma swirling in a dark pitless crater, to crater lakes surrounded by uncountable flamingoes, to mystical colored sulphur pools and to "oogly" mud volcanoes, one HAS to stop and ponder the awesomeness of the Creator of these. I particularly like the accounts about real historical eruptions, though there are other really curious stories about how various cultures respond to the volcanic world. The only shortcoming is that the book is too heavy! Frankly, the pictures could have been a teeny weeny bit sharper, but they really ain't "that" bad.

Augmented by Jacques Duriux's informative text, Philippe Bourseiller's impressive photography showcases the awesome power, beauty, and devastating aftermath of active volcanoes. With more than 170 full-color, double-page spreads (including satellite photos), Volcanoes reveals memorable images and history of the terrible beauty of molten rivers of fire and overwhelmed silt-coated towns. The text explains the most up-to-date methods of predicting and adapting volcanic eruptions. Whether for simply browsing or for supplementing series studies of vulcanology, Philippe Bourseiller and Jacques Duriux's Volcanoes is an outstanding contribution and highly recommended for school and community library collections.

This book contains some truly spectacular photos of volcanoes and volcanic eruptions. The geology of volcanoes often creates scenes with vivid but strange, unworldly-looking colors, such as the man standing next to a small mountain of greenish-yellow sulfur, the milky, powder-blue color of the water in a volcano's caldera, the metallic colors of the mineral deposits crusting the walls and fissures in vocanoes, and the bright, honeycomb-like pattern in a lava lake, along with the other photos of red-hot lava flowing, oozing, glopping, spattering, squirting, or whatever, in the book. The book includes aerial as well as terrestrial photos, and they range from close-ups to vast panoramic views of the mountains and their surroundings. Overall this is a beautiful book with many spectacular photos, and last but not least, the text by Jacques Durieux is interesting and well-written.

I can't believe I spent my whole sunday playing this game/book with some friends. It became mind absorbingly addictive. I recommend it at as a party game. Some of the riddles we worked out and some we didn't, but it did become riotous fun for most of the day. It comes either as a book or as a series of cards, we happened to have both, no preference between the two, although the book does have a forward by Edward De Bono.

A stimulating collection of challenging riddles, many of which are nearly impossible to solve. But that, in fact, is where so much of the fun is derived. As the failed attempts of ourlateral thinking friends proved to be just as entertaining as the real answers offered in the back. And the author/illustrator's accompanying pictures are as intriguing as the riddles. In his own words, they're there 'to entertain your eyeballs when your mind goes blank.' Yes, your mind may go blank, but you'll be smiling at the time.

I was a little surprised to discover that this is not a book, but in fact a series of cards, each bearing a lateral thinking puzzle. Edward de Bono does not seem to have contributed material, in spite of amazon.com citing him as co-author. The content has been previously issued in two other lateral thinking puzzle publications.

This is an appealing and entertaining package at a reasonable price, but those seeking Edward de Bono's wisdom will be disappointed.