Asian-American Books

The illustrations in this book are beautiful. The story is good with animals that do not frighten most children. My 3 year old daughter wants us to read it again and again. She really likes the detailed illustrations. The illustrations in this book are among the best I've seen. Can't believe it didn't win an award.

Creator of that sparkling phenomenon The Rainbow Fish and the Hopper series, Swiss artist/story teller Marcus Pfister has now crafted Hopper's Treetop Adventure (North-South Books, $15.95). When Hopper, the inquiring arctic hare, yearns for hazelnuts, his mother tells him that hares don't usually eat nuts because rabbits can't climb trees. Don't be too sure of that.

Pfister's radiant pastels bring Hopper's woodland adventure to beguiling life. Ages 5-8.

Nazim Hikmet's great Epic Poetry is written in simple lines that carry more than they seem. So much about a culture and its human side. Nazim Hikmet, regardless of his politic side, is a humanist that always believed in human beings and wished for the best for those who suffer. Human Landscapes is a masterpiece of his humanist side.

Nazim Hikmet and his poetry and prose are famous for various reasons, and I think with this specific edition the value of the poetry is very well communicated even to those who read Nazim for the first time. The translation, the glossary and the introductions are what make this edition great. As to what makes this book great... it is a very telling story of the history of the time in Turkey. The characters come alive and pass us by as we turn the pages and the reader becomes a part of the epic. While reading the story I felt like I was in Turkey and was turning my head to see where the noises were coming from only to be included in the daily lives of so many very well developed characters....

This book is written in a way that presents understandable language to the avocational archaeologist, or man on the street. An in depth look at the ages of north american artifacts, and thus man's presence on the landmass. Also covers the evolution of mammals in NA, the effects of the glacial ice retreat, what the land was like in post glacial north america. From Clovis, Folsom, Cody, Goshen, Plainview, Agate Basin, Hell Gap...to the chip artifacts from sites such as the Burham site, Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Dent site, etc. The dates for human occupation seem to be pushing further back. This book will reawaken the curiosity and interest of the reader, that it is a wonderful time to be alive and pondering these new finds and their implications! I thank the many authors who contributed their writing into this workhorse of a book.

This book is an absolute must read for scientists and laymen interested in the peopling of North America. It contains up-to-date articles by the world's experts in ice age archeology and the complex conditions that lead to the early population of the Americas. The book is well illustrated and summarizes much of the most recent data available on this subject. The articles have been written clearly and concisely. If you are curious about the Paleo-Indians who first settled the Americas, how they got here, and why they came, then you must read this book. As a researcher interested in this subject, I find this book indispensible.

Elena Tajima Creef's Imaging Japanese America: The Visual Construction Of Citizenship, Nation, And The Body is a recommended pick for college-level Asian studies readers: it begins with the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and supplements photos with insights on how American popular culture viewed Japanese-Americans. An intriguing cultural analysis.

From the power of the cover photograph, to the images and words inside, Professor Creef has written a book that - as the above review says - correlates to the times in which we now live, while also offering an insider's view of the impact and power images possess. Anyone interested in the gaze, Japanese America, self-representation and cultural studies should definitely buy this book. It will certainly occupy a permanent place on my bookshelf.

Barde looks at Asian immigration at San francisco Bay from several different perspectives: the immigrant experience getting there and ashore, the Chinese community, here and in China, the steamships and the shipping companies, the ships themselves, and the immigration agents, again both here and in Asia. He reproduces first person and primary source documents, often at length, conveying a sense of immediacy to the reader: maps and plans, transcripts of lengthy interrogations of a woman who was detained at Angel Island for an astonishing 20 months; the journal of an incorruptable immigration official. The author lets the story tell itself, and the text is refreshingly free of moralistic observations. Schwendinger's Ocean of Bitter Dreams makes a good companion book. Ocean of Bitter Dreams: Maritime Relations Between China and the United States, 1850-1915.

IMMIGRATION AT THE GOLDEN GATE: PASSENGER SHIPS, EXCLUSION, AND ANGEL ISLAND draws intriguing contrasts between the immigration gateways of Angel Island on the West Coast and Ellis Island on the East, exploring differences between the two entry points, considering their different roles, and providing a history of the Angel Island Immigrant Station which operated from 1910-1940, when public hostility to newcomers posed a threat to the new California immigrants. Any college-level collection strong on either general American immigrant experience or California history in particular must have this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Jim Brown served thirteen months in a Marine Corp artillery unit just south of the DMZ. He fought in some infamous places such as Khe Sanh and Con Thien, infamous enough that each of them have books of their own dedicated to just that battle. Jim Brown walked the walk, not just talked about it.

At the sharp end of the stick, Mr. Brown talks about the impact at the front line of decisions being made back up the chain of command. In one story, B-52's come to their support and effectively stop the enemy activity. In a few weeks the NVA are back at it, shooting at them with mortars, artillery, even infantry attacks. Another set of B-52 attacks was requested. No, they were told that would be to admit that these fortresses were under seige. Did these guys never hear of George Patton's remark at the end of World War II, "Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man."

This book cannot be recommended too highly.

This was an enjoyable read: well written, balanced, not self-serving. 2d Lt. Brown puts the reader in his mind when, as a shavetail artillery officer, he is sent to the DMZ where he earns his salt on the Rock Pile, Dong Ha and Con Thein. In addition to sharing the emotional experience on surviving the DMZ in that killing period, you get his insights as a leader as he discusses his strategic and tactical thinking in making do with less while trying to keep his men alive. He also shares the process of becoming disillusioned with the wisdom of the war and the failure of our government's political leadership. But his loyalty to his men and to the values of the Corps seem to remain strong. Too bad he left the Corps. He was the kind of leader that's always needed.

This is the true story of a married couple who were sent to separate internment camps during World War II. It is a heart-wrenching, but heart-warming story, told mainly in his letters to her, as she was too depressed or too ill to write much of the time. All Americans should know the full details of this shameful time in our history. This book shows how a man can love his wife under any circumstance. Highly recommended!

In this simple, lovely paperback the life & times of two quiet, introspective pioneers come alive. They left the land of their birth for Seattle in America, arriving in the 1919. There they thrived within their community & their church. Until that fateful day when Iwao was snatched away shortly after Pearl Harbor. The World War II correspondence of this Issei couple throughout the dark years of their separate internments is the heart of this biography. Yet the memorabilia & superb black & white photographs of the NorthWest region give a greater insight into these quiet, devoted Americans. Truly an inspiring study in forgiveness & endurance. ........................

Great book on a little reported subject-POW life during the Korean War. Mr. Zellers does an awesome job conveying the fears and hopes of POWs during that time. You can viscerally feel their fear through his writing. I highly recommend this moving book to anyone with even a passing interest for Korean War history.

Larry Zellers, a newly married Methodist minister serving as a missionary and teacher in a small South Korean town near the 38th parallel, was taken prisoner in the early days of the Korean War. He and his fellow prisoners were American combat soldiers who were the very first to arrive in Korea from bases in Japan. The youngest among them had received only minimal combat training. All of the mean were inadequately trained and furnished with sometimes malfunctioning weapons. After being taken prisoner by the North Koreans, the men suffered incredible hardships of cold, hunger, physical abuse, lack of medical attention, fatigue, fear isolation, and intimidation. In Enemy Hands is Zellers' first-hand story of his captivity from June 25, 1950 to his release in 1953. Throughout his personal account Zellers shows that, despite the opinion that POWs live only for themselves, many in the camps worked to help others and conducted themselves with honor. Zellers became a U.S. Air Force chaplain after his release. In Enemy Hands is a valued, important, biographical contribution to the growing body of Korean War literature and a much appreciated contribution to any academic, public library military history collection.

This book is one of the best I have read so far. The first half of the book was about Lansdale in Philippine as an advisor to Phillipine's president at the time. I have been researching a lot into the period that the second half of this particular book covered. The author (Lansdale) had been very honest when he wrote this book, a must read for anyone with questions about what happpened in Vietnam in the time period from 1954 to 1960. I finally read something that had something positive about President Ngo Dinh Diem. This book tell the truth about Ngo Dinh Diem from someone who know him best because Lansdale had acted as Diem's political advisor and best friend. The book is a first hand account (sort of like a memoir) of someone who were actually there, and witnessed every ordeal that had happened. A fine book if you wanted to read something truthful. You don't have to believe me, so I will stop now so you can go ahead and read this wonderful book. By the way, have fun reading :) :) Gwynevere

Lansdale's book is one of those forgotten treasures for those studying insurgent warfare strategy. General Lansdale had an enormous fund of experience, contacts, and cultural knowledge of the Phillipines and his memoir about his role in defeating the Huk insurgency in 1950 tells us a lot about all the RIGHT things to do. Small footprint, work with and cultivate local leaders, disingage the population from the insurgents...all of this takes enormous personal communication skill and rapport along with the common sense of a beat cop. If anything, you'll learn that not everyone in the military is cut out for fighting insurgent warfare. After his success in in the Phillipines he was sent to Vietnam while the French were getting ready to pull out in 1954-1955. He details what the French had done wrong and how some of the French officers "got it" but unfortunately didn't have the support of superiors...something important to remember. Landsdale outlines the situation so that you can tell without his saying so, just when the point of no return for the French had been reached. This is not only a great book about insurgent warfare strategy but just a great read as well. No long drawn out tales of "there I was facing 50 insurgents armed with just my pocket knife" just a recitation of real events as he experienced them, including the not so exciting but essential grunt work insurgent warfare calls for. If you can find a copy...get it.

The slides in this book are all in color which is great. Even though it says from cave temples to the colonial period there is not much on the earlier cave temple times. I think it serves more as background information on the Mughal period art. Of which, the book focuses on with a brief look at some 20th century pieces. Overall it is a good read with analysis of the work it contains. A very nice museum collection. Well worth it!

Over a hundred examples of Indian painting history and styles, in full color, grace the pages of INDIAN PAINTING FROM CAVE TEMPLES TO THE COLONIAL PERIOD, a far-reaching survey of illustrations selected for their ability to reach the non-artist, non-Indian-specialist viewer. A history of Indian painting styles and trends covers scriptures, music-inspired images, and historical renditions while full-page color selections liberally dose almost every page. Over a hundred works from the MFA's holdings make for an exceptional presentation.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch