Asian Books

What an amazing book! I simply could not put it down. Simply could NOT!

I recently saw this book as well as the first volume in the planned three-volume set in the Bay Area in connection with an exhibit of art work from various Shahnameh manuscripts currently on display. In all fairness to the publisher and the author , it should be stated that this is a magnificently illustrated art book, not simply a text. The full-color enlargement pictures of miniature fragments from medieval Persian manuscipts are breathtakingly beautiful, and the high price no doubt reflects the fact that this book was a masterpiece and very expensive to produce. It is exquisitely produced and for those who can afford it well worth the cost. The rest of us should urge our public libraries to acquire it as it gives an in depth knowledge of this ancient history which very few of us are even aware of. This book would surely be a collectors prized possession.

In this second of three planned volumes, Dick Davis continues in his effort to provide a fairly broad translation of the Shahnameh. He effectively utilizes the prosimetrum form, a mixture of verse and prose (naqqali in Farsi), where verse is used to accentuate periods of heightened tension.

In addition to being a fine literary accomplishement, this series of volumes is quite beautiful and heavily illustrated throughout with reprints from 16th and 17th century manuscripts. The books are very sturdy and make for excellent display.

Andrew Harvey has a beautiful voice and the stories that he tells about his childhood in India are fascinating. I was captivated by his stories. They are very spiritual and offer many insights and wonderful lessons for children as well as adults.

What a knockout cool audio. Andrew Harvey speaks from the heart. With beautiful music by Steve Gorn and Ty Burhoe. I was transported to another world. Get this right now.

This has got to be one of the best items available for children to delight in and think deeply about our world and their lives in it. If children can really accept the idea of a feather in their hearts as their own innate wisdom and learn to be in tune with and trust in that, they are bound to become confident and caring people. Andrew Harvey's voice carries the message with intensity and passion unequaled in today's audio market for children. A wonderful counterbalance to the speed and violence of computer games and TV!

Finding Joy is a happy tale about the early life of a girl in China who is placed in an orphanage. The happiness comes when the girl is adopted by American parents and brought to the USA.

This is a good read for children to learn about the way other people live.

I too have lots of Chinese and adoption book for my daugther as well, but depending on your daughter you really should see if this book is right for you child by seeing if your local library has it or by ordering it at a book store that won't make you buy the book if you don't like it or think your child is ready for this book. You know your child best, is she emotionally ready and if they are so, to also know about not being born in your tummy, but of someone elses who chose not to keep her.

The 1st page shows a mother & father getting ready to leave their child beside a bridge. It talks about the parents being sad about leaving her and the only mention on this page of the " One- Child policy" rule is the last sentence which says No Room for Girls. There is more information on the very last page in the Author's Note which does speak more of the One Child Policy and Old Chinese belief on why boys are more important that girls.

In the book the baby is found with a note and a red blanket and both are returned on Metcha / Gotcha day. Most children are not found with a note and if they had a blanket I have never heard of a child being given the blanket back to keep.... it would be a wonderful item to have for your adopted child to have the blanket or clothes they where found in. I don't know why they aren't kept......

The book talks of the little girl named Shu-li being found and going to an orphanage with loving caretakers who had " room for girls". The story then goes on to a couple who has older children who are no longer at home but want a daughter to love. The mom excitely travels to China wondering....." yet a thread of fear wrapped around her chest and pulled tight. What would she find in this distant place? Could her family love a baby born to strangers?" Again, think of your child and how they would process this........and in the next page the last sentence reads " The mother smiled. The thread of fear unwrapped and fell away' when she finally sees her daughter. After metcha or gotcha day happens the next page is of mother and daughter flying home with the abandonment note and blanket. Everyone is happy at the airport and Shu-li has a new country, family and name Joy. The story ends with" In a chest in the attic, the red blanket lies neatly folded. When the time seems right, the mother will take it out and tell her daughter about flying far way to the land that had no room for girls, and finding joy"

The illustrations are done in watercolor by Yong Chen and are beautiful. I hope this review helps.

I purchased this book on recommendation from a fellow adoptive parent. We hav all of the other popular picture books on this topic. I have been introducing my daughter's story to her slowly, without much interest on her behalf until we saw the opening pages of this book. She was totally facinated by the story and while the details from then on are different, she is able to comprehend how they apply to her own start in this life. In turn, it has started to unlock some of her questions and early conversations about our familyh. This book brings it front and center and has opened up a lot of great dialog and interest in the other pieces in our library.

It is beautifully and sensitively written and the illustrations are gorgeous watercolor drawing.

Fireflies by Rabindranath Tagore is one of the most beautiful books that I have ever read. I am not an expert on Asian literature; so, I cannot give very much background on the poems presented her. What I can say is that every poem in here is a beautiful and is a perfect thought no matter where it came from or who is reading it. This collection by the Nobel Prize winner is made up of fireflies. They are each only three to six lines long and present a single thought. The poems flow together very cohesively. Tagore covers many different subjects. He speaks of innocense, nature, power, bigotry, freedom, death, and love. In short, Tagore writes about life. My favorite was the last:

"Before the end of my journey/may I reach within myself/the one which is the all,/leaving the outer shell/to float away with the drifting multitude/upon the current of chance and change."

I also liked:

"Love is an endless mystery,/for it has nothing else to explain it."

Few books flow as well as this one does. It enlightens the reader through the entire book and will express into words some feelings that all people have (as good poetry should do). Anyone who loved The Prophet by Gibran would love this book as well. It is somewhat forgotten among readers of today (I'm 18, and I guarantee that no other person in my high school has read this), but it should definately not be.

This book speaks directly to the soul. Its poems are concise yet beautifully eloquent. When I read them, I am re-awakened to an inner knowing of beauty and love and creative spirit. I am also reminded of the timelessness and constancy of truth. "Fireflies" is a book to return to again and again.

A friend gave me a copy of this book when I was entering the India X Peace Corps training project in 1964. "To be read in times of stress, but also happiness," it says inside the flyleaf. That just says it all. You don't need to think you enjoy poetry to treasure this book. Tagore captures moment after moment of the human experience, pierces each with an insight of his own and shares it with the reader. In a sense it bears a similarity to those little books of daily prayers or 'thoughts for the day' people used to hand you when they came to the door uninvited to explain to you what you should believe to mold yourself to a nearer model of what they, themselves believed. But it's a lot more than that. Tagore isn't pushy. He soaks in to your conciousness the way water enters a sponge, and he stays there.

I think a copy of this book ought to be by the bedside in every home in America to be read during those times when the weight of our submersion in this reality seems too heavy to bear, or when the joys lift us too high.

I have purchased this book a few years ago after a few not too successful attempts at oriental-style cooking.

The book is wonderful in the fact that it covers techniques, gives tips and explains main details of stir-fry and wok cooking for people who are not necessarily great chefs and/or have not learned oriental cooking in their mother's kitchen. It is also important that it gives recipes from all over the Orient, and does not concentrate on just one cuisine, allowing for variety that was very enticing to me, as a beginner home chef at the time.

The recipes are wonderful, easy to prepare, and very satisfying to both, eyes and palate. The dishes lend themselves to presentation at casual dinners or luncheons with friends, or an intimate dinner with a significant other (cooking these together is a lot of fun!). The book is written for the average person, and does not contain strange uneplained terminology or unexplained names of styles that confounded the younger me in many more "serious" cookbooks.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would like to learn the basics (and more!) of oriental cooking without specializing into one cuisine. If you are already a pro, this book can still provide plenty of ideas and inspiration.

This is my most favorite stir-fry cookbook. I love the way this book is organized. It is wonderful to have the introduction chapter address equipment, fresh produce, herbs and spices, flavoring ingredients, and techniques for preparation and frying. The step by step food preparation guides are helpful and the color photographs are beautiful. This presentation makes it easier for anyone who may be new to wok cooking and helpful for long-timers. There is a beautiful full-colored photograph for each dish. If you love stir fry recipes and wok cooking that has a strong essence of imagination, great taste, a sundry of uses (casual and for company) this is a "must have" for your collection. Enjoy, you will not be sorry!!! Great job Shirley and Liz!!!

Offers lots of recipes with ingredients and spices the novice in Asian cuisine never felt tempted to try. This book introduces techniques and ingredients in recipes. It entices you to try at home what you did not want to ask in a restaurant, the 'How did you do THAT?'. The recipes range from quick starters (Salmon in Teriaky, 3 minutes) to full blown menus that may take up to an hour of your time and needs to be prepared a day in advance. My mother loved it at first sight and even more after a thorough review. Now I am trying to get a copy, because I gave her mine and she is asking for four other copies, because her guests want copies, too.

Kit does an excellent job of giving credit where credit is due. The highly classified low altitude, silent, Army-Lockheed YO-3A with the second generation night vision and infrared illuminator (1st Lockheed production stealth aircraft) was able to locate the largest Russian Trawler and coordinate activities with the gallant Broncos to destroy this ship and its munitions during the Vietnam War.

Lovell's book is an excellent read. If you want to know what Forward Air Control and Support really means, read this book.

Unfortunately the soldiers today do not understand or appreciate what it is to have a soldier, in the air, in direct contact with the guys on the ground.

I hope we never forget the lessons Kit Lavell tells in this great book.

As a lay person (i.e. one who has never been in the military or in Vietnam), I found this book very exciting and educational. While those like me will struggle slightly with the military vernacular and acronyms, there is plenty of real life drama to keep you riveted. Kit Lavell does an excellent job in bringing the reader into the backseat of the amazing OV-10 as it flies missions in the Mekong Delta, all the while giving you an extremely detailed chronological account of this attack squadron from its conception to decommission. Anyone interested in war history will love this book, which uncovers an untold chapter of the Vietnam war. The Black Ponies are truly some of the unsung heroes of this controversial war. The testimonies of those who received life-saving support from these men are astounding. You can't help but be amazed by the capabilities of this unusual aircraft and the skilled pilots who "drove" them. As much as I enjoyed this book, I can only imagine that those with a military background and those who served in Vietnam (especially in the Mekong Delta) will appreciate it even more.

This is the story of Navy Light Attack Squadron Four. It began in the very late 60's and was decommissioned in mid 1972. It's mission was close air support and protection of the US and Viet Namese Navy's riverine forces/brown water navy, including the SEALS. It was started with odd looking but agile light aircraft borrowed from the Marines to fill a mission that jet aircraft and helicopters could not. The Navy had eliminated in the mid 60s the only aircraft that had been able to support these forces on the ground.

It provides historical data with foot notes that makes it valuable for students of the era and scholars. It has interspersed personal information and stories - funny and sad - from the author's recollection, interviews with persons involved, copies and originals of official documents, private letters, scripts and casette recordings done at the time by some of the subjects.

Some of the characters- real people- include the brave and the foolish, the disturbed, the failed, the reborn. One commanding officer is as classical a martinet as any in literature or history.

It reads well and the technical and military allusions always are accompanied by a subtle/parallel plain language description which makes it enjoyable for non-military readers.

For craft and reading pleasure it's remininscent of Flight of the Intruder and Hunt for Red October.

Margaret Duda's new book magically transported me into a place and time I'd previously known little about: China's epic Qing Dynasty, with its fascinating legends, myths, customs, religious beliefs, and cultural norms. The author astutely displays hundreds of beautiful artifacts - pendants, symbolic locks, grooming sets, eating kits, embroidery-needle cases - to bring this vanished world to life.

This is an uncomparable tome for anyone interested in adornment or Chinese social history. The level of scholarship, depth of information, and narrative ease will impress academics and laymen. The photography has obviously been done by an accomplished visual artist. Such an incredible collection and wealth of research has obviously been done as a labour of love. I hope Mrs. Duda's love for her subject continues in many other volumes. Well Done!

For anyone who has a love affair with China and or silver adornment this book is a find. For those of you who don't, read it anyway and you will be delightfully surprised. Margaret Duda is obviously a scholar and an immensely readable one. Her son, Paul Duda, who did the photography is equally talented. I'm buying this book for Christmas presents for family and friends.

The four huts are four short essays about retreat from the world, specifically retreat to small and private home. I'm not a very romantic person, but I started to feel that longing for a thoughtful, simple life as I read these essays.

The four cover an 800-year period, starting in China then moving to Japan. The earliest writing, by Po Chu-I, may be my favorite. The first part is brief and business-like, a description of the hut, its environs, and the views from it. Although the writing is plain, I can't help imagine the drifting Chinese landscape paintings I've seen, with mists and peaks off to the edge of vision. This piece ends with two brief poems that express some of the writer's quiet passion. I was quite taken by the way the prose and poetry are used to express different parts of the author's experience.

The second writing in this book struck me, at first, as disingenuous. Again, the hut is simple but sturdy and well-made, and the environs capture many different aspects of natural beauty. The landscaping is completely man-made, though, and the property was acquired and developed at huge expense, near the capitol. My second impression was that yes, the scene has some Disney artificiality about it, but the urge that drove it was as real as any. Even at that time, the start of the Heian era or just before it, urban crowding was a reality, and urban gentrification was as much a factor as in any modern city. If "The Pond Pavilion" could not be an actual withdrawal from the world, it was a lovingly built homage to the ideal.

The third essay, the Ten Square Foot Hut, has appeared elsewhere, and is still worth reading. This focuses less on the hut itself than on the process of withdrawal and the life of the near-hermit. It is pervasively Buddhist, and does not promote complete isolation from the world. It does, however, offer an appealing look at an old man, usually alone but never lonely, doing what he has worked for many years to do.

The final essay may be the shortest. It is certainly the most recent, written some time in the 17th century AD. It is also a symmetric end to the collection - Basho's lttle essay reads much like the first.

This book is quite brief, and even shorter if one skips over the translator's noted. It seemed to be over much too soon. Still, the book's brevity and simplicity are modeled after the scenes it describes. It was hard to close the book and come back to the reality of the modern world.

Burton Watson, the well-known translator of 'The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu' and Ssu-Ma Chien's 'Records of the Grand Historian of China,' here turns his attention to something much slighter, though perhaps no less profound.

'Four Huts' is made up of four short prose pieces or 'chi' (Records) praising the wisdom of the simple life: 'Record of the Thatched Hall on Mount Lu,' by the major T'ang poet, Po Chu-i; 'Record of the Pond Pavilion' by Yoshishige no Yasutane; 'Record of the Ten-Foot-Square-Hut' by Kamo no Chomei; and 'Record of the Hut of the Phantom' by the famous haiku poet, Matsuo Basho.

All four of these 'Records' or essays have the same theme: the wisdom of removing oneself from the rat-race, setting up a simple residence in beautiful natural surroundings, and getting back in touch with one's real nature and with real things. They celebrate, as Po Chu-i puts it, being 'happy with one's surroundings and at peace within' (page 9). Short, and easy to read, it would be a wonderful book to have along with you on your next trip to the forests, lakes, or mountains.

The book also contains a brief, though somewhat uninspired Preface, by Watson; brief Introductions and endnotes to each piece; and twelve fine halftone illustrations, by the remarkably competent Zen calligrapher Stephen Addiss, which help set the mood

It's a small and beautiful book of just 132 pages that will easily fit into a purse or shirt-pocket, well-printed in two colors on a heavy high-quality ivory-tinted paper, bound in a stiff glossy illustrated wrapper, and it even has persimmon endpapers. As a book, it would have been perfect if only someone had thought to add stitching.

Most of us probably realize that it is the simplest things in life that bring us the greatest joys - a simple and unostenatious dwelling, time in which to unwind and become what we are supposed to be, a refreshing breeze, sunlight, wholesome food, raindrops, birdsong, the sound of water, children's laughter, a well-loved book.

But despite knowing this we allow ourselves to be seduced by the tinsel glamor and superficial excitements of the bustling metropolis. And the question raised by this book is just which of the two, the simple or the glamorous, provides the richest and most rewarding satisfactions?

'Four Huts' will probably be read by those who need it least. But it would make an ideal gift for some Prozac-popping friend you think needs it most. It might, with a bit of luck, just end up changing their life.

This small book containing 4 short essays (and a poem or two) on the simple life makes one realize that possessions and big houses can be a burden; life can be lived simply and serenely. These essays were written by one Chinese author and three Japanese authors, over almost a thousand years, ending with Basho. I enjoyed all four essays, but Basho has so much wit to him that I have to say he is my favorite. I love the image he presents: nothing holy or wise, just sitting there admiring the view and squishing lice. What more is there to life?

In "Friendly Fire," Katherine Kinney offers a fascinating cultural analysis of the Vietnam conflict as it has been represented through popular media. Writing in a style accessible to the casual reader and the serious Vietnam scholar alike, she explores America's involvement in Vietnam by paying particular attention to how certain cultural fears and desires have been reflected through the portrayal of this historical conflict.

You may have read the only other Amazon review of this book, an embarrassing and cowardly hatchet-job by a disgruntled ex-graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, the university at which the book's author is a well-respected professor and scholar. As a former student at this university, I immediately recognized the author of this character assassination (despite the cowardice of the unsigned post), a student whose shoddy performance on their doctoral examinations was one of the truly embarrassing moments in recent, departmental history (the gulf between expectation and actuality was enormous). My recommendation would be to ignore this vindictive attack from an arrogant and unstable person who is pretty much viewed as a joke in the English Department at UC Riverside.

Oxford University Press, long noted for publishing interesting, relevant, and cutting-edge work, has done so yet again with "Friendly Fire." For those interested in the Vietnam War, post-WWII masculinity, or media studies, this book will provide a fascinating read.

In "Friendly Fire," Katherine Kinney offers a fascinating cultural analysis of the Vietnam conflict as it has been represented through popular media. Writing in a style accessible to the casual reader and the serious Vietnam scholar alike, she explores America's involvement in Vietnam by paying particular attention to how certain cultural fears and desires have been reflected through the portrayal of this historical conflict.

You may have read the only other Amazon review of this book, an embarrassing and cowardly hatchet-job by a disgruntled ex-graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, the university at which the book's author is a well-respected professor and scholar. As a former student at this university, I immediately recognized the author of this character assassination (despite the cowardice of the unsigned post), a student whose shoddy performance on their doctoral examinations was one of the truly embarrassing moments in recent, departmental history (the gulf between expectation and actuality was enormous). My recommendation would be to ignore this vindictive attack from an arrogant and unstable person who is pretty much viewed as a joke in the English Department at UC Riverside.

Oxford University Press, long noted for publishing interesting, relevant, and cutting-edge work, has done so yet again with "Friendly Fire." For those interested in the Vietnam War, post-WWII masculinity, or media studies, this book will provide a fascinating read.

Signed,

Andrew Howe

Katherine Kinney's book is a miniature first class education. Having taken classes from Dr.Kinney I was eager to read her book and found every chapter a satisfying line of criticism. Ignore all negative or unappreciative reviews of this book or this author.

Thanks for the great service! The delivery was timely and the merchandise was in mint condition.

Man I love the mid to late 1980's version of Garfield cause the pictures have gotten better and they came up with more funny stuff like Garfield waking Jon up in the middle of the night.
It is also my understanding that Garfield books will someday become collector's items and unfortunately, I lost one of my Garfield books and hopefully I'll be able to find it or replace it.

Everybody out there keep buying Garfield books! They can be worth a lot of money someday and can become collector's items! I'm always going to keep all of mine so when I have kids they can read them!