Washington University Books

This is a collection of wise, graceful, richly composed short stories about people who live in on the northern coast of California, which happens to be where Day himself has lived and worked for several decades.

It so happens that in the early 1960's Day had a student only few years younger than himself. His name was Raymond Carver. Day's stories stand on their own -- in fact, when you read these stories you can't help but wonder if Carver didn't first learn his habit of careful observation in Day's writing workshops.

These are terrific stories and they deserve many readers.

"Doing Java: An Anthropological Detective Story" by independent anthropologist Niels Mulder is based on Mulder's extensive field research in Java, Thailand, and the Philippines over the three decades from the 1970s to the 1990s. Actively engaged in the study of Javanese society and the author of numerous books and studies on the subject, he retired to Mt. Banahaw in southern Luzon, Philippines, in 2002 where he wrote "Doing Java" which is the second of a two volume intellectual biography and where he focuses on his work, experiences, and commentary concerning the academic climate of Yogyakarta in the late 1970s. An informative and very strongly recommended source example regarding field anthropology as experienced by Mulder, "Doing Java" is a seminal addition to academic library Anthropology reference collections, an inherently fascinating, thoughtful, thought-provoking autobiographical depiction of the life and work of an anthropologist which is particularly commended to the attention of students with respect to Javanese culture and the science of anthropology.

Asking questions such as, "Are the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Chinese People's Republic to be understood as simply two particular cases of realization of the universal ideals of Communist theorists? Or, are both regimes best approached as today's heirs of the millennia-long history of Russia and China?", Soviet and Chinese Communism, arranged by editor Donald W. Treadgold, is a compilation of articles debating these issues. This publication, an assortment of papers prepared by world renowned authors, including Richard Pipes, Victor Erlich, and Alexander Dallin, for use at the Lake Tahoe conference on June 13-17, 1965, provide the hardware needed to create the context for a scholarly debate and comparative study of the structural and developmental features of the Soviet and Chinese communist systems. By examining the social, political, and economic variations between the Soviets and Chinese, the authors of these multifarious articles provide insight into the differences and similarities between Soviet and Chinese applications of Communism, while often lacking historic social and ideological background and often struggling with the realization that this venture is virtually impossible.

Broken up into seven, non-chronological sections, with topics ranging from "Antecedents of Communism in Russia and China" and "Communist Law and Social Change", to "Strategies and Tactics of Economic Development" and "Russia and China in a Modernizing World", the authors explore the Sinological and Sovietological scholarship of the West and delve into the task of comparison. Providing many similarities, such as the fact that the Soviet and Chinese governmental institutions were both toppled by war and left ripe for the picking by the communists, and arguing that modernization was frustrated in both Russia and China by the lack of economic growth in the early 1900's, the authors debate whether the CCP and the CSPU are functions of communism or of the societies through which it was bred. While the authors address many topics, unfortunately many times in a disorderly fashion, it is clear that there is a problem when using only Western scholarship as a reference to a topic that is entrenched in the East. Because of this, the authors have much insecurity in approaching this topic and continually discredit themselves, almost allowing themselves a free pass to not be held accountable.

The authors, in their reluctant questioning, speak of a difference between Russian and China, claiming Leninism in its Maoist version is becoming increasingly sinified which makes comparison between the two more difficult, for they are ever changing and adapting in their own environments. To further examine this topic, of whether communism in its practice was a product of the people, it seems that in these papers, there is a glaring exclusion of the background of the creation of the Soviet and Chinese people and the subsequent ideologies that exists in their societies. This lack of humanist level interpretation and individual experience help create the large generalizations that are sometimes asserted in this compilation. In closing, the authors seemingly imply that China was not preconditioned for communism unlike Russia who was, but unfortunately this presumption falls short because the publication, lacked order, Eastern scholarship, and disregarded humanist approach. Although the book is chock full of relevant information that would benefit any reader interested in communist Russia or China, further publications will be needed to fully address the topic at hand.

Always the peculiar spell of Diana O'Hehir's way of using language has made her poetry exceptional, and exceptionally interesting. She has an irresistable inclination for the unexpected, doubtless because O'Hehir's imagination has a will of its own. It has a quality which brings to mind Gabriel Garcia Marquez, especially One Hundred Years of Solitude. It is wild, and it is magical, but it derives from actual life and authentic emotions and ideas. The reader enters a real garden, although some of the details, creatures and scenes in it are imagined. The unique quality of this imagination seems to originate in listening, listening to a voice that is not the same as the voice we find in her fiction. It seems, in fact, "summoned." In Spells For Not Dying Again this ever-present wildness is doubled by O'Hehir's use of the Egyptian Book Of The Dead. Although the poems begin with the problems O'Hehir encountered in dealing with the death of her ex-husband, years after a troubled marriage and divorce, the poems also deal with other deaths, including the expectation of her own.

This is a large, beautifully-done publication. It is loaded with very high-quality pictures of some wonderful examples of Pacific Northwest Coast artwork, especially masks. It is done is a style similar to museum "catalogs," with each picture having information about the item pictured.

I would say that roughly 75% of the items pictured in this book are masks, with the remainder being pictures of carved bowls, woven hats, small carved figures, etc. There are a couple of pictures of a decorated shirt and some boxes.

If you're looking for books that cover Pacific Northwest Coast native artwork in more general terms, or how to do it, or about totem poles, then there are better books.

If, however, you want a high-production-values book loaded with very high-quality pictures of some outstanding examples of Pacific Northwest Coast artwork, especially masks, then this is a fabulous book and you should not hesitate to buy it.

Great book for anyone interested in basket making. Covers all facets of Haida and Tlingit spruce root baskets, including their origins, uses, how they are made and even their care and appreciation of them. Numerous excellent pictures and illustrations compliment the text.

This book is very well put together. If you like Spencer you will refer to it constantly above all other works about him (except a full length biography). There's a lot of writing about his life, and there are many, many color plates of his paintings that provide real depth of viewing what this person was about. All of this is in a pleasing font and design. The best art book I've ever seen.

I RECENTLY READED: THE STAR CREEK PAPERS AND WAS NOT SURPRISE OF THINGS THAT WENT ON BACK IN THE DAY, FROM READING HISTORY, I'M 47 YEARS YOUNG AND ALSO THE GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF ISOM WILSON, MY FATHER MOTHER WAS OPHELIA WILSON, ONE OF ISOM DAUGHTER, I STAY WITH HER FAR ABOUT TEN YEARS AND SHE WAS A STRONG BLACK WOMAN, THAT I LOVED AND I WISH THAT SHE WAS STILL HERE IN MY LIFE, I OFTEN WONDER OF HER. BUT WHO GIVE PEOPLE THE RIGHT TO DO SUCH THINGS TO OTHERS, THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN THAT JUDGES ONES PATH.I RATE THIS BOOK A 10 AND SHOULD BE IN SCHOOLS ACROSS THE USA, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE HATE START. SANDRA MANNING BOLTON

The reflections of Paul John reflect a life well lived in the spirit of the traditional life of the past. Paul's words have value to everyone especially to those living in the constantly changing modern world. I have heard Paul orate in Yupik, and while my Yupik is limited, his speaking style commands the attention of all who hear him. His daughter Theresa translate for him. Five of Paul's children have University degrees and several including Theresa have master degrees. The child rearing methods of he and his wife are very successful and they are admired my all of their peers. He is my wife's relative and his language skills left a lasting impression on her. He helped to understand that it was possible to live in the modern world and still remain a Yupik. She discovered that she had goals and that alcohol was blocking those goals. The gentle words of Paul John and other elders helped her to understand that being Yupik was not a barrier but a bridge. Taking this in mind she achieved a BA om psychology and teacher herself how to write in both English and Yupik. She would use these skills until crippled by Brain Cancer to bring successful communication between Yupik patients and their doctors. The work of Marie Meade and Ann Fienup-Riordan to keep his words alive in Yupik and English will have profound effect on young people many genertions into the future. He is a living example of how the elders of a traditional generation can transmit a successful belief structure from his generation all those that follow. Our family share his beliefs and Paul's words show us the direction which we most move to survive in the 21st century. Thank you Paul. Richard E. Wisecarver

This collection of 40 stories, as translated into English, is based on a famous two-volume Chinese publication. KU CHIN CHI KUAN - the Chinese title, meaning Startling Stories Old and New. The entire collection was compiled and edited by Master Feng Meng Long during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644). The stories reflected on the Chinese society at the grassroots' level in which the people would often hear them being told and retold at the teahouses and wayside gatherings in the summer evenings by their favourite storytellers. And Feng Meng Long gathered and edited them and then had them published which were being preserved to this day. The English translation had been attempted in the past years first by the Foreign Language Press at Beijing under The Courtesan's Jewel Box with about 20 selection out of the original 40 stories. Another attempt was rendered by Cyril Birch under the title of Stories From A Ming Collection - The Art of the Chines Storyteller. However, he only attempted to select a mere selection of only 8 stories. The present collection is the combined efforts of both Yunqin Yang (freelance interpeter at the United Nations) and Prof. Shuhui Yang of Washington University in St. Louis to which they faithfully translated the entire 40 stories from Chinese to English.
Their translation is very readable, concise and expertly done. The stories in this amazing collection are populated with scholars and courteans, spirits and ghosts, Buddhist monks and nuns, Eastern pirates (or the Japanese Wokous) and emperors and officials who were both virtuous and corrupt. This superb English translation is unabridged and with also a selection of woodcut drawings from the original Ming Dynasty collection. Let's hope that this collection would soon be restocked and made available to customers of Amazon.com. Highly recommended and extremely interesting collection of ancient Chinese short stories...worthy to read and grace your library collection. Thank you.