Chang Books

I was given this book last Christmas and now have time to reread it. Having been to the Lyndhurst castle several years ago, I was fascinated by the Christmas decorations as shown by the beautiful photography. The creative writing by Karen Anderson brings these fairy tales back to life. Perhaps those looking for Christmas decorations of today, (check out your local craft store) would do well to visit some of the beautiful old mansions found in this country and admire the wonderful holiday decorations.

I was really looking forward to this book, but I have some mixed feelings. There were a lot more recipes in this book than I expected and I was really looking for a book on interior decorating at Christmas time. The trees are lovely, but not as original as I had expected. Peter Pan, for example, is a green theme. Green garland, green ribbon, green beads and green ornaments. But sadly the theme is missing. If one saw this in any other book (Marth Stewart, i.e.) they would just consider it a green themed tree. No tinkerbells or pirates or ships to show this is Peter Pan. On the other hand, the Rumpelstiltskin is very original with its golden straw, spinning wheel and coins, with a bejeweled tree. Cinderella's tree was also disappointing, again. No mice nor pumpkins turning into carriages, and no signs of a fairy godmother. So, I will keep the book and enjoy what it offers, but I do wish the decorated trees had been just a little more original. Themed trees have been in for years, now, but it only takes one trip to Walmart or your local nursery to gather nutcrackers and ballerina ornaments to make a Nutcracker Tree, if you get my meaning. And not a single rose on the Beauty and the Beast tree made me wonder if they even read the story?!! It is through the father's picking of the rose that the whole story revolves around.

This is a beautiful book. The pictures are great and the ideas and designs are fantastic. I could have done without the story that goes with each theme, but if you have kids, they would love it. The recipes are pretty good as well. Overall, one of the best books I've bought for the money.

Maybe I didn't read the description well, but I thought this book would be a great place to get ideas on fairy-tale inspired decorating themes for the holiday. Instead it was full of shortened versions of fairy-tales along with many recipes. Intermingled were some beautiful photos. Some photos though, were taken too close, looked grainy or were reprints. I was very surprised by this. I found the themes to be nothing more original than could be found elsewhere in a store with a little imagination. I have a daughter and we love books but this was not worth the money for me to keep, even for her and I returned it. I have books full of fairy-tales and plenty of cookbooks. I wanted a book that focused on decorating a home, table settings etc... and I mistook this for being what I was hoping for.

I received this book as a gift and was not sure what to expect, since I do not collect holiday or design books. But this is rather special ---- the designer has meticulously transformed each room into eye-pleasing havens with imaginative interpretations of classic fairy tales. The photography is good and the writing and organization invite the reader to follow along from room to room.

This makes a nice gift, particularly for those who enjoy holiday planning and decorating.

None of the recipes in this book have let me down. The recipes are usually easy and don't take long, and are definitely well worth the preparation. The dishes are not "expensive" to make, nor do they require hard-to-find ingredients. The pictures are mouth-watering as well... I love this book!

Not a beginner cookbook. Very involved. Too much stuff for my young family. Gave it to may parents

This book is published in Britain and some of the terms for ingredients will be unfamiliar to American readers. For example, what is rocket? What are courgettes? I haven't read the entire book, but too many of the recipes seem to involve shelling peas or beans. I don't think that most of the markets I go to even carry peas or beans that must be shelled. In addition, the information regarding the fat and protein content of the recipes is presented in a way that will be unfamiliar to American readers. This book definitely didn't weather the transatlantic journey well.

Pros: this is a cook book provides an authentic cooking of Mediterranean food. Great picture taking, food displaying, and specific instructions.

Cons: some of the ingredients unfortunately to be found in the States is a mission impossible (which is not so surprised coz it's authentic).

The cover says (pictures) it all. I can assure you that mozzarella and figs is a great change from ubiquitous straight tomatos. The rest of the book is the same: good Mediterranean-style dishes with a good deal of interpretation from different perspectives. This isn't a book only of traditional dishes, and that makes them very refreshing and inspiring.

As a former educator and parent to a 9 year Karate student I was touched by this story. Like the previous book, "Seven Wheels of Power" we are reaquaiinted with Max and his fellow Black Belt Club members. Max is still struggling with self-confidence and low-self esteem, and through his journey he learns to listen to his positive self rather than his doubting fears.

What I liked most about the story was the message that we shouldn't let fear make our choices for us. This is something my daughter has been dealing with a lot, and after reading the story she was a able to get a better perspective as to what "working through it", "move past it" or "trusting yourself" truly means.

These books were an adventure to read and we both look forward to reading the next book.

I would like to cancel this order if it is not shipped today.

Chang Ma Din

As a mother of a six year old boy who has been attending Dawn Barnes Karate for over two years and as a teacher of child education I was asked to read this new chapter book.Night on the Mountain of Fear was a very entertaining story. I tried to read it from a childs point of view not as an adult.
The story is written in a way that I could imagine myself there in the journey with the Black Belt Club. The imaginative descriptions and the wonderful pictures on every page helped make it seem more real.
I felt that this story hit on two of the most valuable concepts for children to know and understand in the world today. One was to feel good enough about yourself and to believe that if you try your best and never give up you will succeed in life. The other concept was that love and friendship is more powerful than hate. The story is a good way to have a little adventure and to remind us of things that are important. The Black Belt Club has to keep their balance of mind, body and spirit.
I am presently reading the story to my son and he is really enjoying it.In the middle of the chapters he likes to practice the kata moves that are in the back of the book. He now wants to be in the Black Belt Club and go on a journey.

As a special educator, I really appreciate this particular book series. The books are a unique blend of chapter book and graphic novel with an illustration on every page. This format makes it a motivating read for reluctant readers. Book 2, Night on the Mountain of Fear is a fun adventure where four karate kids must use team work and face fears in order to save the world. The story touches in on some valuable Native American concepts of balance between the four elements and "walking in beauty," or being a good person. Dawn Barnes, the author, writes in a way that explains universal ideas in "kid language." Many children's books seem to be written by adults looking for awards. Her books are written for children in a way they can understand and enjoy. I recommend this book series to parents and teachers who want stories that revolve around respect, team work, and personal growth. This book makes kids want to read!! Personally, I cannot wait to see it on the big screen!!

For good or for ill I recently was asked to help pick out graphic novels for children of my library system. I suspect I was asked this partly because I am under the age of 30 and partly because my brother-in-law is a comic book inker. The upside is that I get to see lots and lots of new titles for kids. The down side is that more often than not they're truly terrible. I mean just awful stuff. Now recently Scholastic has been trying to corner the market on quality graphic novels for children. Somehow they missed the "Babymouse" boat, but they've already given us "Bone" and "The Baby-Sitters Club" series. It's not all good all the time though. Recently a co-worker threw a series title, "The Black Belt Club" onto my desk and asked me to read it through. I had no idea when I read this book just how heavily Scholastic was riding on it. Already the first book in the series (this is the second) has been optioned for a film. Go to the book's website and you'll learn about their hopes for an animated series, video games, the whole nine yards. There's just one catch. Unless the books become mighty popular, there won't be much point to all the hyping. And reading it through I have no idea if kids are gonna go in for its "prose and comic hybrid" style or not.

Max has never felt completely at ease as a member of the exclusive Black Belt Club. The club consists of four students who are sent by their sensei into the world to fight evil. Pretty standard stuff. After a disappointing demo team performance he returns to the dojo for a special assignment with his fellows. There they are told by a mysterious magical Native American woman named Grandmother Dancing Feather that there's been an imbalance between the four elements in the world. It's up to the kids to defeat The Hate Master (honestly, that's his name) and get the elements back in alignment. Along the way, Max has to face up to his fears as well as his own sorrows. But it's only through friendship that the four can join together and defeat their enemy once and for all.

The book is a combination of written prose and graphic novel elements. In a way, Scholastic is banking on this series to be a kind of link between straight out comic books and straight out literature. Like "Captain Underpants", this is supposed to bridge the gap. The funny thing is, Scholastic keeps referring to this series as the "first ever prose and comic hybrid". It says this on the book's webpage. Now this is where it gets funny. "Captain Underpants" came up with this style way way before Barnes ever did. And "Captain Underpants" is produced by Blue Sky Press which is an imprint of... Scholastic, Inc! So if Scholastic already has the real "hybrid" credited to their name, what the heck are they doing foisting credit to "The Black Belt Club" books? Just weird. Anyway, what was I saying? Ah yes. This new technique. Well, insofar as it goes, it works. The problem is not in the style but in the writing. THAT, unfortunately, is where it begins to fall apart.

Since the first book, Barnes has kicked up the emotional conflict. Her hero Max still has self-esteem issues and he sometimes doubts whether or not the three other members of the club are really his friends (a legitimate concern). There's also an odd backstory where Max is taken care of by his gruff karate-hating uncle because his father is so often away on business. None of that is really resolved in this book, however. Apparently by the end Max has discovered that, "There was nothing better in the whole wide world than having friends!". Also that, "love is stronger than hate". No real innovation or new ideas here. Barnes is perfectly content to rely on old overused phrases like these, when even a simple rewording could have conveyed the same thoughts without seeming overly trite. And that, unfortunately, is the problem with this series itself. It's just too simplistic. There's lots of fancy action sequences, and the parts with Max on his own are fine, but the moralistic tone is more than a little preachy and self-serving.

Then there are the weird elements. In this particular book, the kids are visited by a magical old Native American woman named Grandmother Dancing Feather. What tribe is she with? It apparently doesn't matter. What does matter is that she represents a kind of condensed be-one-with-the-world combination of every pseudo-Native American teaching out there. In the back of the book we're told that Dawn Barnes did some "personal studies" with a Seneca Shaman and a Ute Shaman. She then takes the very very vague notion of "interconnectedness between themselves [i.e. children] and other living beings" and smooshes it into one big mess. It's not that such ideas aren't legitimate. It's that she's watered and dumbed them down in what she obviously thought was a kid-friendly fashion. Then she takes the rather offensive route of having a magical person of another ethnicity guide the kids. Even EVEN if Barnes had said that the villain was a coyote (which apparently he is) and then explained who coyote was to some Native American tribes THEN she might have tied together a legitimate myth with her video-gamelike storyline. Instead she doesn't seem to want to spoil her tale with anything with that much depth. Pah.

The plot of the book is taken directly from Barnes's belief in a teaching style she has dubbed, "positive dialogue response". A November 1, 2005 issue of Entrepreneur said that this meant, "motivating children with praise rather than fear". Therefore fear is bad in her books. Anger's bad too. Part of the problem with the book is that Barnes equates anger with hate, making both out to be bad. I'm all for the "hate is bad" part, but anger has a real use in this world. It can be used to fight injustice, for example. Blasé people, for all their charms, won't go fighting for what is right if they don't feel angry with the situation at hand. Barnes doesn't quite acknowledge this and the book suffers.

Now Dawn Barnes (who bears a truly frightening resemblance to the Sensei featured in the books) has the credentials to pen this kind of "novel with action graphics". She's called the "Martha Stewart of Karate" in her own press releases. Already the Director of Children's Education for the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (does that make her a DOCENAPMA?) she's apparently a third-degree black belt. A Beverly Hills former ballerina black-belt, but a black belt all the same. A quick gander at her website at this moment in time shows that not much has happened with the book series since it sold its film rights back in July of 2005. In spite of its novel appearance, I wouldn't expect much more to happen either.

When it comes down to it, you can have a good idea for a kind of book, a good set of nonviolent attitudes, factual information on a karate technique, and still end up with a not-so-hotso book simply because the writing is sub-par. For those kids into the idea of karate, the book will be much loved and read. For others, however, the overly hokey writing will turn them away and they'll be far more interested in better books like "Bone". A fine title but nothing to get worked up about.

The Arcobjects model is so complex and puzzling that it is no wonder there are few authors that can spare time from actually trying to understanding it, to write a book as good as this one about it, hands down the best in this topic to date. Some criticize it is too basic, but its closest rival, Getting to Know ArcObjects (With CD-ROM) is far simpler. I actually was dissapointed with that one. With this I'm actually learning something. If someone thinks "Programming Arcobjects with VBA" is simple, then they should write a book themselves. We can only hope the incoming GIS Programming: Concepts and Applications is even more informative than this one.

First-off, there is a new edition of this book coming out. So, i won't judge this one on 'outdatedness.'

This is a very good follow-up to the 'getting to know arcpbjects' book from esri (which are the only 2 guide books to arcobjects out there).

It is fairly easy to read, and i like the code given in the text and on the cd, especially on the cd, because you can copy and paste it right into your ArcGIS.

Overall a good instructional book on various arcobjects technics.

The book is out of date, covering ArcObjects in ArcMap v 8.x.

Even if it were current (up to ArcObjects 9.x), I did not find the book particularly useful or interesting, covering only the rudimentary basics of programming ArcObjects.

Code is very poorly documented and explanations are thin.

Good examples. I wish more depth of knowledge with more application oriented examples required.

It is a quick starter, it is a phenomenal reference book, and it gives you real examples with plain English explanations! Everything that you need in order to start tweaking your ArcGIS environment!

To give you some background, I have 22+ years of experience in martial arts, including 9+ years in internal martial arts training-- the latter with a classically-oriented teacher with a direct lineage back to Yang Cheng-fu. In addition, I have an MD, and my specialty focuses on kinesiological analysis. I'm pretty familiar with biomechanics/anatomy. So, despite all that, this was a very esoteric book, not easily grasped.

Professor Wells' translation is extremely literal, and his interpretation possibly over-technical as another reviewer has stated. The organizational form is basically this: in sentence-to-paragraph level amounts, Wells provides a fairly literal translation of Master Chang's text. Then, Wells sprinkles in his own interpretation as to what Master Chang was trying to say, and tries to supply analagous concepts from the Tai Chi Classics and other known historical texts. Professor Wells appears extremely well-read in the related literature, as well as well-versed in Tai Chi/internal martial arts concepts.

There is, however, plenty of room from the step of translation to interpretation. Wells' interpretation are very strongly rooted in physiology and anatomy. If Master Chang's intent was to convey artistry and symbolic imagery, then it has been lost, certainly. But somehow, I didn't get the impression that this was significantly the case. The translations, if accurate, were fairly spartan and had a literal feel to them. From reading the English versions, I didn't get the sense that poetry was being excluded. Therefore, Wells' interpretation were equally utilitarian. I interpreted this to mean that Master Chang was trying to convey a very real sense of his martial art with the available vocabulary of the time and location, without resorting to metaphor (perhaps with the understanding that metaphor can potentially create confusion!).

Despite this tendency towards simplicity, the literal translation was somewhat inaccessible. Even with Wells' helpful notes to the effect of "Sunny is referring to extensor muscles and shady is referring to flexors..." and others, I could not easily grasp or understand IN DETAIL what Master Chang was trying to instruct his reader to do more of or less of, or whatever.

It didn't help that-- and this is important for potential readers-- Master Chang's martial art style IS NOT TAI CHI (at least not a version that I know-- and I've seen enough Wu, Hoa Wu, Chen, Yang, and Sun to easily distinguish them). Wells spends a good deal of pages detailing the history of Chang's martial art (a compendium of a good number of styles as was not atypical for the era). Nor is it any Bagua style that I am familiar with, nor even a Hsing-I system that I know of. The importance of this is that there is very little frame of reference for a practitioner to draw on. One must discern the "energy" and intent of the postures from shady/sunny analogies and pencil-like drawings. Not an easy task-- and Chang's art is different enough from the more common internal styles popular today-- that getting anything out of this book for my training was extremely difficult.

In summary, a nice history of an (historically) important text from medieval China. Written with a significant academic bent, including signiicant references and annotations-- in a style befitting an academic paper. But not easily grasped, nor accessible. I did not spend the time poring over each line of text, trying to grasp what Master Chang was referring to, playing with each posture, experimenting with various energies, until I understood. I think that's the level of reading that would be required to get anything significant out of this book. Maybe when I'm better at this, when there's nothing else to read that might be of benefit. But for now, this one goes on the shelf, and maybe I may refer to it in bits and pieces as something strikes me. But if there's that much to be had from this translation, it will take a LONG time to discern it, IMO.

This is a book for serious internal neijia practitioners only and presents what I would call internal martial art code or the koans of internal neijia power. Like Tai Chi Classics by Waysun Liao, or the translation of Yang Ban-hou in Secrets of the Yang Style by Yang Jwing-Ming, this is written in code and is not a "how to" book. These books are good for reference and for confirming what you are learning, and for crystallizing your knowledge, but not for teaching or basic learning. Its the book that you go to when you have one of those "aha" moments and you see that the information was there in front of you all of the time. If you re-read the classics like this every few years, each time another piece falls into place and over the years your depth of knowledge grows as you walk the path.

This is a really good study material. If you like internal. And if you want to know more about the roots of tai ji etc. Especially i like the aphorisms, and the part where they talk about how it came about.

When North Atlantic Books published Ben Lo's "Essence of Tai Chi Chuan" in the early 1980's, the book was seen as a sure failure. Who would care about these poetic and obscure teachings from a strange looking martial art? Over 20 years, and many thousands of copies later it is seen as one of the most important first steps in opening up the western world to Tai Chi, and the Chinese internal martial arts.

Marnix Wells's new book on Chang Naizhou, the Scholar Boxer, is the next such book. For those interested in the theory, history and practice of the internal martial arts, this book is going to blow your mind.

Now that the history of Tai Chi and the other internal martial arts have been investigated, translated and published in English, a certain baseline of knowledge has been established here in the west. Readers who have pondered the developments over the last few decades are ready for the revelations that Scholar Boxer brings forth. Fascinating insights into history, energy cultivation and combative practices await the reader.

This book is ahead of it's time, similar to when the "Essence of Tai Chi Chuan" first came out. In due time however, this book will be seen as the first that truly cracked open the next level of insight into the internal martial arts. This book has taken martial arts translation to a whole new level.

Now westerners, instead of debating abstruse theories of history, can more fruitfully spend their reading time discovering how boxers in the 1700's ACTUALLY wrote, taught and practiced. Now all the theory can be informed by actual fact. By looking at a book published during the formative years of todays internal styles we can gain a whole new level of insight.

I hope todays readers spend a lot of time investigating the teachings that are revealed in this book. I believe that many people will be able to improve their practice with a taste of authentic Chinese internal martial arts knowledge.

Thanks to Marnix Wells for his exhaustive efforts in researching and translating this amazing book.

-Jess O'Brien

One one hand, this book is unprecedented and amazing. The historical significance of a documented understanding of the internal martial arts that predates all of the modern lineages is truly groundbreaking. Chang admits he had no one teacher that gave him the 'internal transmission' for his 'miraculous gongfu.' He seems to have pooled together everything he had available to him: some external martial forms, some qigong meditation practices, an understanding of Chinese classical literature, and most importantly, genuine common sense. This book does great service towards dismantling the dogmatic authority of anyone who says it can only be done one way.

On the other hand, the translation is exceedingly awkward and almost unintelligable in parts. I appreciate Marnix's effort towards approaching the translation in a different way. He translates word for word, keeping the same word order, and gives nothing extra towards elaboration of meaning. If you have already translated some Chinese, this may work for you. But if not, good luck. Also, he tends to miss the subtlety of the Chinese poetic approach, looking instead for literal and mechanical explanations of Chinese qualitative terms. For example, he tries to reduce the relationship between yin and yang qi in the acupuncture channels to the use of force in the extensor and flexor muscles. While this is part of the meaning, it is limiting. He should follow Chang's advice to beware of being 'partial or leaning' in any one direction at the expense of another. This unfortunate academic technique reduces this potentially profound text into a bunch of technical notes and historical anecdotes.

However, for anyone serious in their study of internal dynamics in the martial arts, this book should not be missed. The detailed introductory notes are worth the price of admission alone. Just take the translation with a grain of salt, as they say. Don't stop pushing and seeking. Survey the entire crowd of brave heroes and stay rooted in the central breath of common sense. Let's just hope this is a first draft, and more clarity will be brought to this work in the future.

This book is just a pleasure for me to own.
The pictures are beautiful and inspiring.
Any creative person would enjoy this book.
If you are an Artist who enjoy things that are beautiful and interesting
then this book should be in your collection.

Exquisite array of shoes pictured, and a fascinating read! This book is a keeper and will be in my library forever!

The book is OK. It did not have enough pictures of vintage shoes to suit me. But it did have a lot of interesting information in it. And the shoes Mr. Walford pictured were very pretty and very unusual.So, If you love vintage shoes I would recommend this book!Happy reading. S Kivo

this book has absolutely no good information the pictures are horibble and they make me want to vomit, who would want to have this much worthless information on 4 stupid centuris of high heels or flats or any kind of shoe??!! If I could I would rate this with ZERO stars.

Thank you for this amazing book. The pictures are beautiful and the information is fascinating.

This game is wonderful. I skipped the philosophy in the book and got straight to the puzzles. Several shaped pieces have to be formed into the solid shape they give you on the page. We go back and do some of the puzzles over and over again because there are SO MANY (like several hundred) puzzles to start with that you never get it mastered. My husband thoroughly enjoyed the book, too. Great gift for the engineer or other visual puzzle person.

It's not a good book. OK, the introduction is very enlightening.
But the convex tangrams are not interesting(56 pages)!
The figures are given without names. Some pages are almost empty
with a single figure.
The others books i have are more interesting.
The "Tangram (Scholastic Discovery Box)" also by the same author
is more attractive!

In the current Digital Age, the world can be explained as a sequence of 1s and 0s. Simplification must be reassuring, otherwise why would some silly ad by the Ad Council tell us that the human body is 70% water? In geometry even the most complex shapes are said to be functions of circles, squares and triangles.

Not so according to the Chinese, inventors of gun powder, kung fu and qi qong, who have their own way of unraveling the rich tapestry of life into simpler elements. With the tangram, which surfaced about 200 to 300 years ago, all shapes or "silhouettes" - 1,600 of which are presented in this book and "game" - are made of seven pieces: five triangles, a square, and a rhomboid. Following the examples in the book, the "player" will be able to arrange them not only into geometric designs, but also into images of plants, animals, humans, and maybe even your late Aunt Nettie.

At first glance "playing tangram" may look like an easy pastime for children from age 6. However, "reading," that is properly interpreting and then building the shapes actually takes a lot of patience. Tangram is an ideal solitary activity for adults marooned on a rainy day. Exercising the mind and solving the puzzles is guaranteed to keep you sharp and promises to prevent old Mr. Altzheimer from visiting too early. This game provides excellent training for eye-brain coordination, and in Europe close to one million tangram books have been sold in the past two decades.

One word of caution though: this game is highly addictive. Should you decide that this is the perfect gift for a child, consult with its parents or legal guardians first. And remember, when it comes down to it, we are all just the visible manifestations of zeros and ones - with a lot of H2O thrown in.

I had been on the lookout for some sort of "game" that would help me work on and re-develop better spatial and visual memory skills among other things. I had had a serious head injury in a car accident in 1979, and suffered some "difficulties" as a result. Rehabilitation with a cognitive psychologist at U.of I. in Chicago, IL, started Oct.2002, made me "aware" of the potential for tracing new neural pathways doing work such as with the tangrams. I found the book absolutely marvelous. It has the solutions, which were VERY HELPFUL, and key to my buying the set, and it was PORTABLE, something important for someone who takes buses a lot like I do. I found the history and inmense variety of puzzles really interesting and quite challenging for me. I am tremendously grateful to the authors for having published such a book, for a)including the ANSWERS, b) including diagrams which show very clearly how all of them form one piece, and for the tremendous number of different puzzles. The set has proved to be a "boost" in helping my brain re-learn and re-develop the skills somewhat "damaged" in the car accident. An excellent, excellent buy!!!

The TangramBook by Joost Elffers shows you the logic of the visual language and the way you can think without words. Best used before the age of 11 but its magic works at all ages.

I highly recommend this superb book, not only to all professional sales people and those interested in sales, but to anyone else, since so much of Loper's sage advice applies to all areas of everyday life. I especially enjoyed the humorous approach that made reading the book not only a learning experience, but highly entertaining as well. It's an easy, informative read and I am now enjoying reading it for the second time.

I'm one of those salespeople that needs to be entertained if I'm going to learn anything, and this book fills that need. It's important subject matter that is presented in a casual, informative, and humorous style. I loved it! Amanda Glover Senior Sales Instructor, Compaq Computer Corp.

This book made me laugh and even though I've been selling for 20 years its tips reminded me that, perhaps, I had forgotten some of the selling techniques I was once so familiar with. The book also helped me to not take myself so seriously; hey, it's only a job! I didn't want an in-depth dissertation on selling, I'll leave that for Hopkins or someone else that always puts me to sleep. Thanks, Mr. Loper.

This book was not too informative. It brushes the top of issues, and provides tips on aspects of selling that are a given for most salesmen.

This book is hilarious and at the same time informative! Who knew learning could be so entertaining? It has a lot of fun insights into different aspects of Japanese culture. I only wish the book was longer and went more in-depth.

This book was funny and insightful. It makes visitors to Japan aware that much can be said through a gesture and great offense or insult as well. It's always a good idea to research any country that you are going to visit and this book brings the reader one step closer to avoiding potentially sticky situations.

I'm not sure this was a better choice than the rather terrible and strange Hungry Sailor cookbook. I did learn that the way I make a fist in my sleep is a rude gesture but I regret doing this Amazon promo. Instead of getting 25% off on 4 books I wanted, I got one book I liked and three that were a waste. Never again.

If you're a fan of the Japanese culture, then you know that communication is often full of non-verbal communication - hand gestures, body movements. Here's the way to decipher what those mean!

Written by Hamiru-aqui and translated by Aileen Chang, this brilliant book contains photos of a Japanese person doing the gesture, the name of the gesture and its full history. This is invaluable whether you read manga, watch anime, or enjoy any sort of Japanese cinema.

For example, what does it mean when a Japanese person puts a pair of fists in front of their nose, making their nose look longer? Does it mean they're telling a lie, like in Pinnochio? Hardly! It's actually representing a tengu, or Japanese demon. Tengu were known as being very conceited, so this hand gesture means you think the person you're referring to is an overly-proud person.

The book is full of not only standard hand symbols but also swears and 'dangerous hand movements', ranked by intensity. There are some hand movements you definitely do NOT want to do to a Japanese person - but you might not even realize it!

It's like the middle finger in American / British culture. That middle finger movement has a long history and immediately means something to us. To other cultures, it might not mean anything at all. Just as when we see a middle finger stuck at us we get an instant reaction, so do the Japanese get instant reactions to certain hand gestures and body movements.

This book is the key to deciphering what those movements mean, so that your enjoyment of the Japanese culture is even more complete!

Highly recommended, and very entertaining!

I'd give the text a 4, but my real motivation for the book was because of Galen Rowell's involvement. Unfortunately there's only several photos in the book and seemed like his name was tacked on the cover merely to sell the book. Obviously he had passed by the time the book was written and was a major character in the story but I think if it was illustrated in the manner like Barbara Rowell's Flying South book then the book would have been a 4-5 star book. The photos were a bit lackluster as well, I'm sure with better editing this book could have been something special. I know Rowell probably had better photos from the trip than was presented here.

The idea behind the book was great as the motivation was to create a reserve to protect the Tibetan Chiru from hunters. I'd recommend the book.

The book is a terrific account of a very challenging trek across Tibet's Chang Tang, in search of the elusive Chiru's calving grounds. Ridgeway's writing is outstanding in the manner in which he gets the reader to feel an integral part of the expedition, and to experience the risks and the challenges involved in such an impossible trek.

In terms of raising awareness about the chiru's unfortunate plight, this book, and the story on NG are hugely effective (I have not seen the TV documentary on the same, so I cannot comment on that.

Photography - one of the main reasons I bought the book is because the photography is by the legendary Galen Rowell, who was part of the trek. Galen's photography in the book is good, but well below his high standards in his own books. Surprisingly, I didn't see a single photograph that really made me go "WOW!" like a lot of Galen's photographs.

All in all, an excellent book that is difficult to put down.

Ridgeway does it again with a thoughtful, engaging story of a trek across the high tundra of Tibet looking for the calving grounds of the Chiru, an antelope which is in danger of extinction from killing it for it's wool. With Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and the late Galen Rowell; one gets to know these characters as friends and I'm envious of the time they were able to spend crossing an amazing landscape seen by few westerners since 1903. The Chiru were the reason for the trek and hopefully this book will help in their protection.

This is another strong Ridgeway book. Although he doesn't have the wide range of material to draw from as in the Shadow of Kilimanjaro, this book is still fascinating. Anyone who reads this will be intrigued by the fate of the chiru, appalled that so many people could be convinced that their fur could be collected off bushes and rocks (including major magazine publications), and interested in the dynamics of four determined personalities working together to cross the Chang Tang. Highly recommended.