Wang Books

Just when you thought IDC couldn't surpass the deal they had with "No PSP for the Hollidays" at $750 they blow us away with releasing this high quality PDF at a mere $500!!
That's right"
ONLY $500!!
And for those familiar with how incredible IDC's work is there is no need to tell you that this is a true masterpiece. I laughed. I cried. It changed my life.

With the new year it's clear that IDC is going to keep up their stellar work and continue with their rock-bottom prices. A must-read for anyone!

I had no idea that so much fascinating information about death and the afterlife could be gleaned from ancient Chinese manuscripts. The author does an amazing job of reconstructing actual religious practice. Also makes great connections to Buddhist philosophy and rituals that are important everywhere in the Buddhist world.

For anyone interested in Chinese art, where the provenance of a painting can matter more than who painted it, this book is a must. If you can, get the later edition (1966), which includes additional seals from American collections.

Great book on self-assembled quantum dots in both theory and experimental investigations with rich information on the growth, characterization, and applications

I read this after studying Barthe's earlier Elements of Semiology, which serves as a comprehensive, if dry, primer to the methods of structural and textual analysis put into practice in the Semiotic Challenge. Parts of this book are entirely theoretical, concerned with polishing Barthe's meticulous system of interpretation, but the sections on Poe and Jacob's encounter with the angel, in particular, are masterful illustrations of Barthe's catch-all method in practice. I was delighted to discover that oftentimes Barthes is actually quite funny and readable, unlike some of the other big names in French Theory, like Lacan and Derrida, who I find mostly impenetrable. I'd recommend this book particularly to those interested in engaging with some of Barthe's shorter structuralist critiques, before taking up a much longer work like S/Z.

A detailed and fascinating account of the White Lotus sect and rebellion during the Ching dynasty. Precursor to the Boxer uprisings.

This is an excellent treatment of the Lotus Sutra in Chinese art, primarily focusing on Dunhuang but of use to anyone who wants to gain a further understanding of medieval Chinese murals and sculpture. A basic knowledge of both Buddhism and Buddhist iconography is almost essential but a fast learning, highly motivated beginner would also find this book extremely helpful. No one going to all the trouble to visit the Dunhuang caves should go without reading this book, and anyone who finds this book hard reading or uninteresting with a trip to Dunhuang on their agenda, should choose another destination. For those interested in medieval Chinese Buddhist iconography and pictorial art, this book "pulls it all together" and is both readable and scholarly in its approach. Excellent photographs and detailed drawings to help one interpret the ancient paintings make this book an invaluable guidebook to Dunhuang or to any armchair traveller. A true find and a book one will be able to reread over and over again as one becomes an increasingly advanced student of the subject.

Dennis Brutus is an inspirational poet who challenges the world to look inside their souls and help those in search of it.

An amazing collection, definitely recommended to the readers who enjoy revolutionary poetry. This man is very skilled, and still writing to this day, I can't wait for the next book.

The life of poverty and discrimination is all about Simple, the character in Simple's Uncle Sam. He goes through everything and tells about it in his short stories. From his ideas for a Negro President to his ideas for an ugly contest instead of a beauty contest, this man's mind comes alive with explicit detail, description, and opinion.

I bought this title as a long time fan of Auster and also of the two films. It is the first and only screenplay book I have bought as I find them generally redundant, always inferior to the film, and usually not very readable. Firstly, the screenplay, written by Auster is very readable as the film is mostly dialogue and as such flows nicely, even as a script, not bogged down with description of actions, or camera angles. If you are a fan of the film, there is little new here, though there are a few lines of dialogue that weren't in the final cut. The transcript of Blue in the Face is exactly what you see on screen as this film was mostly improvised. Auster also includes his lengthy notes to the actors about their scenes and this is enlightening as it shows which ideas made the film and which ones didn't, and of those that made it, which ones worked or not. There is also an in-depth interview with Auster about the two films which is very good indeed and is both informative and witty. Finally, there is the original short story "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story" which was the original inspiration for "Smoke" If you've seen the film, you'll know the tale but it is great to see the original version in print, and interesting to see how it made the tarnsition to the screen. All in all a very worthwhile and highly readable collection.