Asian-American Books

A great resource for anyone interested in the Chinese American experience or the development of the INS (Immigration & Naturalization Services). Many defining aspects of the American Chinatown culture and psychology is surprisingly the result of the Paper Family subtefuge. This unique journey of the early Chinese immigrants is recounted with clarity, scholarship and understanding.

This is the most powerful oral history book on the Vietnam experience I have ever read. These vets take you to the soul of their horror and grab you with the insanity of their current situation - it still eats at them every day.

This is the Spanish version of Passage to Freedom, a 30-page picture book. A remarkable and inspiring story of a Japanese diplomat who disobeyed his government by writing hundreds of visas to Jewish refugees trying to flee Lithuania. With compassion and courage, Sugihara places his own future in jeopardy to save others. Excellent! Don't miss the afterward to see what happened to the Sugihara family.

Passing Time's time pasting took only one night! In that time W. D. Ehrhart flashed me back to '70, 68, 69, 71, and the nitexmasarclights of '72, Ho ho ho chi minhnity returns with both laughter and extreme anger! Ah! The ying and yang of it to me who calls Bill and old old dear friend whom I had never availed myself to his insight and wit like I did last night with Passing Time! Five stars *****, but never too soon to be a new motion picture. Of an old e-6 hippy from Perkasie, Pa, who graduated from Swarthmore College and worked at sea like all "Old Salt" gyrenes who went a few places, saw a few things and still live to tell about it in all speldid details from the heart. Perspicatious (if that can be now a new adjective!) jvb

As a member of the 233rd MP Company, I found this book to be an excellent representation of the unit's year in Baghdad. The book is well written; it not only highlights the 233rd, but represents all National Guard units that served in Baghdad that first year in Iraq.

very insightful as to the acts that would be come upon the attack on pearl harbor. very well written essays that explain different views on how other countries perceived the attack.

This book is an amazing piece of research and writing. I thought I was fairly well-informed on the issue, but it definitely changed my thinking.

The book also is a courageous effort, challenging the conventional wisdom on such issues as Palestinian refugees and Israeli settlements. The facts clearly support the conclusions.

Journalism schools should make this required reading for reporting students. The introduction alone could form the core of a solid course on "objectivity."

If someone mentions `Bali' one of the first images that will come into your mind will probably be rice terraces. The first Austronesian colonists introduced rice to the coastal regions of Bali several thousand years ago, but it was by no means certain that rice cultivation would expand into the rugged interior of the island. Ancient Balinese farmers had to find ways to move massive amounts of water through kilometres of solid rock. Water is necessary for wet rice agriculture. They had to perfect a new engineering system constructing canals, tunnels and aqueducts and they did.

Having done that they had to devise a workable and fair scheme for sharing the water. Those farmers downstream are at the mercy of the farmers upstream as they control the water flow. It was done through the subak irrigation societies, which are first mentioned in the 11th century, and the network of water temples. The subaks are very democratic societies and everyone who owns a rice paddy must belong to one. I do. The Dutch and their successors, the Indonesian government, did not understand the power of the water temples. It was not until well into the 1980s that the role of the water temples in setting cropping patterns and controlling irrigation was appreciated, thanks largely to the American anthropologist Stephen Lansing. The Green Revolution, which had its benefits, caused chaos in Bali as the water temples were ignored totally. Pests got out of control.

In this book Stephen Lansing describes his field research over a number of years. He and his team interviewed and videotaped many farmers in the subak organisations in the area around Pujung, which is not far from Ubud, where I live, and describes various conflicts that arose. He tested the decisions made using computer simulations and found that the decisions made were the best that could be made in the circumstances. He was intrigued, however, about the human element. After all it is very tempting for greedy farmers upsteam to keep more water for themselves and grow more rice. What is to prevent them doing that? He discovered that if they did it would result in more pests so it would not be in their interests to do so.

Stephen Lansing has a vast knowledge of Bali and has written many papers and other books about Balinese life. He writes in the clearest language and goes off on various tangents from time to time - always fascinating subjects such as human sacrifices, rat cremations, witchcraft and how they abolished caste in Pujung.

The supreme water temple is Ulun Danu Batur on the rim of Mount Batur. This is the second most important temple in Bali where Dewi Danu, the Goddess of the Lake resides. She refused to accept marriage and subordination to her brother and founded her own temple where she could be independent. It is a unique temple in many respects. Stephen Lansing has spend a considerable time researching it and writes an intriguing chapter describing the forty-five deities of the temple, the trance mediums, who are ideally opposite-sex twins, the twenty-four male priests, half of whom are regarded as female, and the twenty village Elders, the four most senior of which may go through a `marriage' ceremony to each other, but have not done so for the past century.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a good understanding of matters that are not generally apparent to the ordinary person, whether they are Balinese or just visiting Bali for a short time.

Murni
Ubud, Bali

Peter Parker was the fourth American missionary to be sent to China, and the first medical missionary. His wife was the first Western woman to live in China. As a sideline, he also served as a US government diplomat, interpreter, and translator, becoming a significant force in determing America's diplomatic relations with the Middle Kingdom. He lived in China, mostly Canton, from 1834 to 1857 and then retired and moved back to the US. Despite being physically timid, he survived a lot of adventures, including typhoons and being bombarded by the Japanese.

This is a typical academic book: expensive, 200 pages long, extensive notes and bibiography, a few illustrations, and an index. It's better that most, perhaps reflecting the quality of the diaries and other records that Parker left behind and perhaps reflecting the quality of the writing. The author discusses with impressive authority Parker's medical as well as his diplomatic skills. Parker was apparently quite good at both.

This is a worthwhile book about the early days of American relations with China as well as being a biography of a significant American historical figure. Persons with interest in missionaries, 19th century medicine, or China will enjoy it.

Smallchief

I recently decided to make a career change and picked up this book from the library along with several books. It is an inspiring and very positive book. Yes, sometimes there is discrimination. At the same time, majority of organizations are fair. There is a tendency for minorities to prematurely cry foul without realizing that the fault is theirs and end up losing out on career advancement and success. To be successful you have to get rid of some bad habits and pick up some skills. This book tells us how to avoid minority traps. It also explains, how you should deal with discrimination and not lose your sanity i.e. how to proactively act instead of reacting to the situation. Must be a part of the personal library of every minority professional!