Chinese Books

This remarkable novel was a random discovery; after finishing it I do hope that Han Shaogong finds a larger audience around the world.

A novel structured like a dictionary of a semi-real, semi-fictional town in a rather remote region of southern China, A DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO is a remarkable, dazzling creation - each 'dictionary entry' is a vignette unto itself, each of which gradually coalesce into something greater. Shaogong's Maqiao is a bit like Garcia-Marquez' Macondo or Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, a semi-fictional place upon which one can examine (and also honor and satirize) the varied contradictions and conundrums of a changing nation.

A DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO is set against the backdrop of the cultural revolution, though these political events don't intrude into the center of the story. Shaogong instead emphasizes language, specifically it's mutability and restless, dynamic evolutions, symbolic of life itself, and this tactic (or fascination) does serve to also place external events into some sort of philosophical perspective.

The end result is a novel that is fascinating, inventive and endlessly playful, with a vast cast of intriguing characters, and a captivating, cinematic precision. It didn't seem to get much attention when published in translation, which is highly unfortunate - it's a novel worth going out of your way to read.

-David Alston

Thank you, Han Shaogong, for a wonderful, thought-provoking novel. The fiction you deliver, cloaked in the garb of a regional history, transcends time, place, and language to offer an incredibly precise and well-crafted definition of 'being.' Your point concerning the importance of defining experience and expression on a scale less grand than that of global village is well-delivered and it imbues A Dictionary of Maqiao with a message of hope. As more readers come to this book, may it gain the recognition it deserves. We in Western culture are lucky to have this story available to us in translation.

This book takes me back to my home, a village in Southern Hunan Province, China, and to my childhood. When I was reading, the stories and the people jump out of the book onto my memory. It reminds me of my childhood friends, my relatives, the village doctors, the traveling smith and craftsmen.
When I was 6 or 7 years old, I often grazed water buffalos with my friends in the slops of Wuling (Five Peaks) Mountain. One day we saw a World War II bomb delivered by the Japanese airplane. We were so curious, excited and naïve. We moved it to the grain yard of our agricultural production brigade on the buffalos?back. Fortunately, the explosive was already gone possibly because of aging and weathering. This book forces me to recall the detail of this incident and reassure that nobody was hurt by our ignorance.
During that time our village was often visited by a locksmith, who is the one spoke "xiang qi?accent. He was tall with broad shoulders and white beard. He carried two cabinets covered by glasses on a bamboo pole. Whenever he came, we surrounded his workshop area in the grain yard. He was always accompanied by a young boy of our age. I never figured out why that boy would play with us while the locksmith was making the 5 or 10 cent deals with the adults. The visit was usually about two to three hours. Then they left for other villages. We saw them off in sun and in rain. They did not take away anything from us. But they brought us excitements every time.
In our area, we had village doctors they used to practice Chinese medicine in Jianxi province. They always told us that people from Jianxi province were our relatives. We greeted each other "Lao Biao? I would always have remembered them because I was often sent by my mom to ask for medicine help when our family members felt unease.
Our village also hosted two youngsters from the city. At that time, there were about 16 or 17 years old. They worked hard to learn and to grow up. I didn't know what was their feeling when they lived in our village. But I know the villagers are still talking about them and wishing them well.
I never had the habit to keep a dairy for my past. I have forgot many things about my childhood. The author of this book recorded the language I have used and the stories I have experienced. It reminds me many of my happiness and sadness.
If you want to understand Chinese society, Chinese people, and the rural areas in China, I recommend you read this book. The writing is crisp, the information is practical, and the stories are true. The translation is great.
At this pint, a pop-rice master is walking towards me from the book, with the black, bomb-shaped and air-tight rice cooker, the charcoal stove and the bellow on his shoulder. The black soot covers his face. His smiling reveals only his eyes and teeth. I hear the explosion of the air. Now, I am going to put a bag of popcorn in my microwave so that I will progress with the book and step back to my hometown with my uncle.

This masterful and quite heady novel tackles the history of a fictitious town buried deep in China, a place protected by rivers and mountains. When a a "sent-down" worker from the city joins a group of urbanites to live in the town, they discover a place that's almost a metaphor for Chinese life -- cast in reverse.

Han Shaogong guides the reader through the fictitious author's "dictionary" of Maqiao, which acquaints us with a baffling set of customs, and a people who view themselves as a kind of "Middle Kingdom," in which the outside world is shunned. The novel becomes an inventive expose of Shaogong's sometimes profound insights into the restrictions of culture and language. The book's episodes can be rigorously dry or unexpectedly moving.

The diligent reader will be rewarded. The depth and honesty of Shaogong's insights reach to the present day, and his small town of Maqiao is certain to leave a deep impression. This prize-winning novel is a dictionary that compels your interest and enjoyment..

In 1970 16-year-old Han Shaogong was sent to the Southern Chinese village of Maqiao in Hunan Province to plant rice and tea as a member of the Educated Youth. During his years in Maqiao he carefully made notations of the differences in culture, customs, and language that he observed as a stranger. Later in his life Shaogong became a central member of the Root-Searching Movement that aimed to undermine and reverse the thought-control mechanisms instituted by the Cultural Revolution and rebel against the highly-structured controls on literature, language, and aesthetics. Shaogong returned to his observations of Maqiao and developed this book to further the movement. THE DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO is structured as a dictionary with 110 entries, but it is not a tedious index of words and meanings; rather this book provides small vignettes of how life, both human and natural, is lived in Maqiao. Shaogong's position as an outsider provides him with a unique perspective of the village. He detailed the often-eccentric habitants and their distinctive language that differs from his own. By documenting these cultural and custom differences Shaogong demonstrates how there is great variety and fluency of unlike the teachings of the Maoist doctrines. I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it to others.

If you're only looking for a 12 animal astrology book, than you might want to look somewhere else for Tri Lam's Encyclopedia of Chinese Astrology surpasses all of those. However, if you want a comprehensive "sky chart", palmisty, face reading, 12 animal astrology, feng shui, and I-Ching book, than this book is just right for you!

With step-by-step instructions, Tri Lam gives you a comprehensive outlook within the realm of tradtional Chinese/Vietnamese techniques of divination (I do not use this word lightly), than this book is your guide. Now, you will not become an astrology reader nor a palm reader after reading this but you will definitely get a sense of the field.

I have almost every single Chinese Astrology book out there but not one can ever come close as this.

I have read numerous books on Chinese astrology and this is the best book. It is simple, straight forward, concise and yet comprehensive. I highly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in any aspects of Chinese astrology.

Chinese sky chart opened my eyes to the real Chinese astrology, this method is widely used by the Chinese and Vietnamese communities, but I have never read any English book about it, because there aren't any on the market until this one. There are so many and many Chinese astrology books talking about the Chinese horoscope of the 12 animal signs, it's time for a real one -- the Chinese sky chart. Bravo! The Chinese way of reading the face is also very special.

Chinese sky chart (Zi wei dou shu) is practiced within Chinese community all over the world but is never mentioned in any Western literature, this is the only book in English which gives a clear and easy-to-understand analysis of this complicated technique. Buy it, if you want to know the authentic Chinese astrology method used by most Chinese people, it's amazing, not like the other methods you have heart of. The palmistry section is very detailed with many graphics to show you the lines of your hand. A very good book.

I noticed that with the Sky Chart, he's missing the "scale/measure of your life" when counting the birthdate and time. It's a number that tells you how your life is whether you will end up a poor, average or rich person. I think he explains that in the Palace of Life section, but in Chinese/Vietnamese culture, there's a number that you come up with when calculating the birthdate/time. The lower the number, the worse off you are, the greater the number, the better.

I was hoping that this "comprehensive" book would tell me about the "scale of life" because I can't read Chinese or Vietnamese text. There is a great website for Vietnamese readers that deals with this. It is quite truthful.

This "scale of life" number is very important and I wonder why he didn't include that?

Overall, it is a good book though, just wish he included that info.

This book is almost the same as the speech of Mr. Li Hongzhi in Lectures in the US in 1998---before the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

From the lecture, you can find a lot of Chinese official media's claims to Falun Gong are deceiving.

Although this book doesn't mention a word about the persecution of Falun Gong since it was written before the persecution started in July 1999, from this book, you'll know that the Chinese media campaign against Falun Gong is based on lies, plain lies. If you read a few more Falun Gong books, you'll furthur discover that the Chinese media often quote the books totally out of context, and in many cases, quote something that is never found in any Falun Gong books.

This book reveals many knowledge of the universe. It also tells people the truth of spiritual practice and its history in the pass. Combine with aonther Falun Gong book: Zhuan Falun, people can learn how to practice Falun Gong completely and get a better life. I really recommend people who want to know or practice Falun Gong to purchase this book with Zhuan Falun together to get a completely set of knowledge to practice Falun Gong.

This book is so profound yet enlightening. It explains the Great Way in the most simplistic and straight-forward language, but what it reveals is amazing. I've read the book many times, and it remains intriguing.

If you need to know the latest news about Falun Gong around the world, or you would like to read Master Li's books, I may help you, please contact me at flxldf@hotmail.com

I first read David Young's amazing translations of these great T'ang poets seventeen years ago, when I was one of his students at Oberlin College in Ohio, and they started me on a lifetime of reading and loving these astonishingly ancient and contemporary sounding poets. There is something vibrantly alive, immediate, and inspiring about these 8th century words and the personalities of their wise, striking authors. In reading many translations, you won't find many as clear and right.

My best friend in this world (outside of my wonderful family) is a guy that I only get to see every few years. He's like the wind. He blows in and out of my life. But he's always in my heart. We are poets.

Being a poet is not a choice. It is a life sentence.

My friend and I are dissimilar in so many ways that it is remarkable that we don't break out in a fight the instant we come into each other's presence. Yet...and yet...

Hearts touched by the flame always find warmth in good company.

Imagine my joy then, at finding a new brother (one from over a thousand years ago) when I picked up this book and met Li Po.

I won't bother you much longer with my words. Instead, let me introduce you to Li Po himself:

Drinking in Moonlight




I sit with my wine jar
among flowers
blossoming trees

no one to drink with

well, there's the moon

I raise my cup
and ask him to join me
bringing my shadow
making us three

but the moon doesn't seem to be drinking
and my shadow creeps around behind me

still, we're companions tonight
me, the moon, and the shadow
we're observing the rites of spring

I sing
and the moon rocks back and forth

I dance
and my shadow tumbles with me

We celebrate for awhile
then go our own ways, drunk

may we meet again someday
in the white river of stars
overhead!

This is THE book of translated Chinese poems which opened my eyes to the art of poetry. I've since searched for and read many others, but this remains the best. The translations are masterful - lucid, transparent, simple, and, in English, stand as wonderful poems in their own right.

"Verses, however masterly, cannot be translated literally from one language into another without losing much of their beauty and dignity." (Bede, English writer and historian, AD 673-735)

For the translator of poetry, and Chinese poetry in particular, the question is: shall I be true to the letter or to the spirit? Usually the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The best translations aim to be true to the spirit without violating the letter more than necessary.

David Young, a poet himself, hopes to be true to the spirit of the five poets from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906) while at the same time trying to create poetry in a different language and period. The impulse that lies behind his book is to rescue the poets "from the often wooden and dogged versions of the scholars" and to recreate the beauty and dignity of the poetry in a language used by an American poet at the end of the 20th century. The results are marvelously readable, beautiful translations that I enjoyed more than any other translations of Chinese poetry I have read before or since.

Preceding the translations, Young has written a short introduction to each of the poets. These include a discussion of the special qualities of the poets' works and a selection of recommended translations by other English authors.

The five poets represented in this book are (1) Wang Wei, a devout Buddhist and the Chinese poet of landscape par excellence who wrote poems of a deeply religious sensibility; (2) Li Po, the Chinese archetype of the "bohemian artist and puckish wanderer," a poet beloved for his Taoist unconventionality; (3) Tu Fu, China's greatest poet according to a widely held view because of his technical brilliance and "vigorous poetry that manages to transcend unhappiness and melancholy by its enormous range and immense humanity"; (4) Li Ho, a poet usually not ranked with the Big Three because he is too innovative and defies classification; and (5) Li Shang-yin, who has a reputation as a decadent versifier but, as Young shows, is a "human and humane artist who feels deeply and sees deeply into mysteries of our common existence."

One of my favorite poems in this collection is "Returning to my cottage." It is a good example of Wang Wei's ability to capture stillness and movement in a landscape, to balance observations of things distant and close by, and to create from these images an atmosphere of serenity tinged with sadness. It is a good example for David Young's style of translation, too:

A bell in the distance
the sound floats
down the valley

one by one
woodcutters and fishermen
stop work, start home

the mountains move off
into darkness

alone, I turn home
as great clouds beckon
from the horizon

the wind stirs delicate vines
and water chestnut shoots
catkin fluff sails past

in the marsh to the east
new growth
vibrates with color

it's sad
to walk in the house
and shut the door.

Bottom line: This is one of the few anthologies of classical Chinese poetry in which the English versions of the poems really sound like poetry. There is nothing of the stiff formality and awkwardness of most other translations that disable the lyric voice of the verses. These translations are full of the beauty and dignity of the Chinese originals.

The Five Tang Poets covered in this book are wonderful.

Wang Wei excellent landscape poems take you to places which are wonderous while not over iydllic. Tu Fu is sad and poinant, talking about the scenes of war. Li Po talks of drinking and intoxication in a way that seems that it is a way of life

Young translates in a free verse form using simple words and goes for the feeling of the poem. The poems are not 100 % literal translations but they are jems. I feel like I am having some of my chinese friends translating a poem for me and they say this is the best I can do you will have to read Chinese to fully understand the poem completely. Young takes us as far as one can go in our language. He took on a difficult task to bring these poems so simple in language and so complex in context and emotion to life, Young has done an excellent job with the tool of the English language

Vivien Sung has to be congratulated a million times: her book is a lesson of style, design, culture and - above all - the highest knowledge of art!
It is a little masterpiece I have now in my bookcase.

I bought this book without the slightest beginning knowledge of Chinese culture or history. I just thought it looked interesting. Now, I can tell anyone who is interested in this type of book that it was wonderfully illustrated, extremely easy to understand and intensely knowledgeable and helpful. I am in awe of all the "little" things about Chinese history and culture, and this book goes thoroughly through all of it's promised categories with ease of understanding and helpful information.

This is a quick reading book, but is also a very helpful reference tool. I now know what not to give/not give as a gift, and I even know why! It is helpful in what to surround yourself with or others, your home, business, gift giving or for different types of lifestyles or happenings. Five-fold Happiness is a great gift for anyone of any age, or a wonderful read for yourself. I think that anyone who begins this book will finish it over and over again.

Enjoy and Learn!

I just bought this book and I could not stop reading it. Very very good. Well done, Vivien.

I picked up this book and found that many of the items in it are related to Feng Shui symbols and its origin. It's meant to give beginners a glimpse into the Chinese culture. It's bilingual with Chinese on one side and the English translation on the other side. The pictures are nice. I recommend it for beginners, but it is also a nice coffee table book.

Ever look at the art around your favorite Chinese restaurant and the designs on the plates, and wonder if they have a hidden meaning? They do. And Five-Fold Happiness beautifully shows and clearly explains it all. What a reference! Read this, and dazzle your friends with your insights next time you go out for lo mein.

My 3-year old daughter loves Grace Lin books. Kite Flying, Dim Sum and this one are in her current reading rotation (sometimes 10 times a day!) The illustrations are just wonderful.

My two-year-old daughter and I just LOVE Grace Lin's books. With each new Grace Lin book that we buy, it immediately becomes my daughter's favorite, until we get another Grace Lin book! There is so much to see in the book, and the story is adorable. Highly recommended!

I bought this book for a lesson on Multiculturalism in the classroom. I incorporated a puppet with the story, and the students loved it. This is a must for any classroom.

For older kids, even high school, this would be a great starter story for them to read and then make their own fortune cookies, inserting their own fortunes before the hot smooth cookies harden. A nice end note explains some of the original of the Fortune cookie as Japanese, not Chinese, but the overall charm of the book is its celebration of the traditions of the messages inside the cookies. If you didn't want to make fortune cookies from scratch in a classroom, you might just settle for everyone having a fortune cookie (available in most large groceries) and sharing their fortunes over a cup of nice tea. Also, check out Dim Sum for Everyone, also celebrating cultural food experiences for all ages.

Hard to keep a young toddler (or an adult) interested in the storyline...it's mostly a long list of fortunes, but Grace Lin's illustrations are wonderful, as always. My toddler loves just looking at the packed pages of beautiful birds, origami animals, and lots more!

I never though I'd read a cookbook, but Jeff Smith is such an engaging personality that I was almost left wanting more prose and less recipes! If you like cooking and you like history, this book will deliver on both counts.

Taking Chineese, Greek and Roman cooking influences, Smith ofTV fame brings forth an offering which resembles the James Beard books which provide not only great recipes but a running commentary on the culture which produces the food and some experience remembrances by the author.

This is fun cooking and well done. Well representative of the cuisines and done with helpful hints on each.

A workhorse for the cook willing to use it to branch out and experiement in these formative areas of food history. For openers, try Spareribs with Black Beans and Pepper Sauce, Halvah Cake or the Seafood Risotto.

My humble opinion is that Roman cooking is slighted out of the three. See Malto Mario for some great Rome recipes.

This book by Jeff Smith has to be my favorite one that he has written. This book focuses on recipes from China, Greece, and Rome. The recies in this book are flavorful, and very enjoyable. My favorite recipe in here is strangely enough Garlic, Eggs, and Pasta. There is a wide range in recipes, both in flavors and ingredients. Jeff Smith does an excellent job of paring history as well as anecdotes with all of his recipes. This should be a must add for anyone who enjoys historical cooking.

Whenever I entertain my Greek relatives, they are amazed by my flair in their native cooking. Jeff's recipes are easy to follow and make Greek cooking simple.

This is an excellent cook book! It's full of great recipes and stories by a very talented cook and writer. This one focuses on 3 major influences in the culinary world. Jeff Smith entertained us for years on his PBS program 'The Frugal Gourmet'. Not only did he teach us many savory dishes, he also educated us. Not satisfied with just cooking delicious meals for his viewers, he would give detailed history lessons about the origins of the dish and made it all a lot of fun!

This may be Mr. Smiths best cook book and it is a worthy edition to everyone's cook book library. I own and have read many, if not all of his cook books, not only for the man's knowledge of cooking, but his incredible wit! This guy was funny and I would have loved to have hung out and throw a few beers down with him.

Unfortunately, this man had some very seriously bad press released about his personal life and well..... I am not one to spread rumors.....he seemed like a great guy and sadly he died before he was able to clear his name.

R.I.P. Frugs!

This book describes many impacts of environment destruction in many countries like Egypt, India, China and Arabia. But the best thing is its explanation of how this has affected women. The parts on the ancient Middle East offer important insights for understanding what happened to the women's roles in history.

I was surprised how much is packed in this book. It mixes the history of religions, empires, migrations of people, with big movements of environmental destruction and healing. Somehow it all fits into one huge story of people's efforts to live on our planet. Sometimes it's so detailed I had to put it down for awhile, but then I got curious about all the questions it raises. I never thought that making deserts could generate so many waves across the world, or turning the land green again could change life so much.

According to Griffith, we have been slowly denuding the land and turning it into desert for several thousand years. The places where civilization began in the Middle East were degraded first, and a circle of largely man-made desertification has spread outward ever since. As we've depleted nature, people in the affected areas often moved away in waves of migration toward greener areas. And where people degraded their environment, there have been big impacts on their culture and way of life. Griffith describes how environmental destruction has affected things like politics, religion, or economics. It's a very colorful, expansive book, and makes you realize how old a lot of our modern problems are. It also makes solving these problems seem quite possible, since many groups of people are having some good success. I found it a dense book that's packed with information on many countries in many periods of history. It took me a long time to read, but was well worth it.

This book tries to explore what happened in the past when people have turned their land into a desert. How has that affected society, politics, women, religion, etc? To answer, Griffith gives many stories from Africa, the Middle East, India, China, or Europe. One thing he looks at closely is the fate of women in areas where the land became unproductive. And in this he gives one of the most convincing explanations of of why inequality developed between men and women in certain parts of the world. To balance this Griffith tells inspiring stories of how local people have struggled to heal their environment and recover the benefits of a healthy countryside.

This book covers over 10,000 years of social, economic and environmental changes. It shows how our destruction of nature has changed society over time. The stories it tells are powerful and well written. I think it's a great book for anybody who really likes history and wants a peaceful and healthy environment in the future.

Gary Snyder's writing style is clever and a part of poetic history--beat. This is a different kind of poetry. It's a good read.

Gary Snyder has been an inspiration to me and to a lot of other people for many years now. This book is a joy to read because it gives us so much of his poetry, as well as his philosophy of life, nature and Buddhism over a course of 46 years. Much of it has been pulled from his various books, but reading it again after time has passed brings a new perspective and an added appreciation for the work. Thanks Gary, for doing the real work for all these years.

most of us first heard of snyder though kerouac's dharma bums. and i must confess that is why i was 1st attracted to him and his writings. but to list snyder as just another beat it not only inaccurate it does a diservice to him, his writings and his fearless intellect. snyder is not only a great poet but is also an insightful naturalist and a true zen master. this anthology is actually a zen bible for the 21st century, filled with enjoyable reading and great insights. these writings would make the soul of han shan dance, and sakyamuni smile. this is one of my favorite books. just reading it will lighten your spirit and make your soul dance with joy.

Gary Snyder's power appears to come from mountain, meandering and meditation. In this thick sampler we visit his life to age sixty-eight through notes, prose and poems. The soil of his writings range across a fire lookout station in the Cascade Range, a Japanese Zen temple, the engine room of a Pacific freighter, an audience with the Dalai Lama, work and climbs with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Lew Welch, and Nanao Sakaki, travel in Botswana and Zimbabwe with his sons. The essence of his power is nature. "Nature is not a place to visit, it is home-and within that home territory there are more familiar and less familiar places." Two sons, one Pulitzer, many other awards so far. He writes, he reads, he teaches. One hopes that he never tires of planting words in the soil that is us. If there are any legitimate Earth heroes, Gary Snyder is one.

Gary Snyder is an amazing person. He is an intellect. He is a poet. He is a teacher, a traveler, and he is a deeply spiritual man. He lives the life that we should all attempt to lead, a conscious thinking, methodical, contemplative life, asking questions arriving at conclusions and taking action.

The Gary Snyder Reader is a good compilation of his life's work, the variety inside includes essay, interview, and poetry. This book is a well rounded view of his feelings and belief's about nature, and that of the nature of the soul, the nature of man. I agree with other reviews written here about the power of Synder's writing. His is a strong voice which is able to make a terrific argument about everything from the history of the Christian church and some reasons for underlying social perils to making a call for more activism in one's own community. Make a difference, be responsible, see things for what they are, yes this is all there.

There is also the voice of pain, loss, suffering, anger, and very deep love. Above all else, one REALLY gets the feeling that Synder loves, passionately. Gary Snyder is an extremely talented writer and poet. The same voice that won the Pulitzer is still here. Do more than read and enjoy his works, read and be changed.

Beautiful book. Fast delivery. What a wonderful treat to get it and then find out it is a limited edition and signed by one of the authors.

Finally an in depth book on hairless breeds.This book dispells myths and enlightens readers on the origin and genetics of the breeds. Included are beautiful color plates. I was finally able to get some definitive information on the "lethal" gene. Not even my vet could explain this to me.
This great coffee table book will attract dog lovers and those with a passion for the wierd and curious.

A friend loaned this to me, and I decided I had to have the book myself. The authors have compiled an extraordinary encyclopedia on hairless dogs -- from antiquity to the present -- with no effort spared to find every possible reference or archive photo. It's so well done, and for the breeder or the lucky owner of a Chinese Crested (or Mexican Hairless or Xoloxcuinti), this book is indispensible. Some fun facts: the Chinese apparently used to call them "healing dogs", because the were so useful as hot water bottles for arthritic or bedridden patients. And indigenous homes of South and Central American Indians often had 30 or more hairless dogs in the house. (Without hair, they were much better adapted to a hot/tropical environment with a high flea and tick population.) Oh, another interesting fact is that of the 2,000 or so dog breeds that have existed, only some 400 are extant today. Many of them have been eaten -- and in fact, the Chinese Crested has very often been served on the dinner table in times of famine. There's even a picture of a Chinese man on a bicycle, hauling a pile of dead Cresteds... A fascinating book with many illustrations, including some excellent color photos. Highly Recommended.

This book is full of the most current information and research on hairless breeds. It debunks the numerous myths about the Chinese Crested and is worth reading for that alone! The information in invaluable. The two authors seem to be in a battle now about personal disagreements, but don't let their games steer you away from your personal education. It's embarassing to the breed that they're airing their laundry in public, but both of their contributions to the book are excellent, and it's worth reading! The pictures in this coffee-table size book alone are worth the steep price. I had to think a while before I coughed up the big price tag, but I'm happy to say it was worth it. Happy Reading!

This book shows an incredible amount of scholarship, a wealth of photographs and a writing style that will appeal to anyone from the novice dog-owner to the expert breeder. The section on genetics will be of special interest to all and the photographs both illustrate the authors' points and provide amazing appeal.

Buy it! Read it! Read it again!