New York Books

This is a great book. It is extremely accessible. I am using it with great success for an Introduction to Ethnomusicology course that I am teaching at a Liberal Arts College. The students like the book very much. It stimulates a good deal of in-class discussion. I would highly recommend this work for anyone interested in music, dance, ethnomusicology, urban studies, popular culture, popular music, American studies, and more... It is the kind of book that affords multiple points of entry. Bravo Kai Fikentscher

If you're looking for a book that's an excellent reference for Underground Dance Music in New York City, then "You Better Work!" by Kai Fikentscher is great reading!

Kai Fikentscher's evolutionary study and rounded presentation of New York's underground dance music and culture is a lonely triumph for a subject matter that desperately requires equal exploration of peer contributing U.S. cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Washington D.C.

"You Better Work!" is a straight edge to which much of what has been said about underground dance music culture should be realligned.

It's evident through well-crafted and intricately expressed text that the author has really done his homework. His book shines, especially when compared to similar historical efforts that clearly lack the consistent impact found in "You Better Work!".

Not only should those familiar with underground dance music absorb this essential reading, but the effort should be required academically, with particular regard to music, culture and art.

In addition to explaining fundamental concepts and techniques, Fikentscher details an often ill-reported but critical importance of UDM - the DNA of African, African American, Latino, Gay and a dejected segment of American society which defines the fabric of underground dance music culture.

Kai's work is a rarity in ethnomusicology; it's accessible, entertaining, and enjoyable to read. His inclusion of 12 inch singles, top UDM charts, DJ and equipment photographs, in addition to his on personal exposes in relationship to the house scene in NYC make this study a rarity within a discipline full of bickerings over authenticity, theoretical concepts and musical hierarchies. "You Better Work!" is a rallying cry for aspiring musicologists and music fans alike. If you danced during this period, it'll bring back those sweet memories of Mr. Fingers, Frankie Knuckles, Ru Paul, Acid and the like.

This text is the unrivaled standard for anyone truly seeking insights into the rich culture of Underground Dance Music. No long is house music an urban legend, but this book invites debate, theory, and growth based on a solid foundation of research, interaction, and presentation. From the halls of academia to the dark places where the underground lurks; each and every reader benefits from Kai's research.

If your a fan of techno... read this book.

Classics? Read.

Soulful... get to know this text.

... then Work!

-Byron

Holmes' nuanced, understated, and very readable style belie what must have been an exhaustive research effort. She highlights small but interesting details in each of the 100 profiles that invite the reader to find out more. After reading this book, you will have a historical, architectural, and cultural overlay to flavor your own relationship with and memories of The City. No one could hope to fully encapsulate this sprawling topic in one volume. But few could manage to assemble as much, in as portable or pleasing a package, as the author does to contextualize these noteworthy lives.

When I first came across this book, I thought it would make a great "stocking stuffer" gift; however, I continue to buy copies to give as birthday gifts--or "just because" gifts. For anyone who is preoccupied with New York--whether it is home or not--this book is addictive reading. In just a few paragraphs the author synthesizes the rich lives of each of these New Yorkers. Each section provides insight into pockets of the city and the lives that have passed through it, making it the perfect book to tote around the city to read on the subway and throughout your day.

After flying through this smart, incredibly well-researched book I realized it was the perfect gift for all of my friends who do/used to/aspire to live in New York City. I also gave it to my teacher friends who loved the detail and use it as a resource. How Holmes found all this stuff I'll never know, but I'm really glad she did!

This book has been in my coat pocket for a month. I sneak time to read it on the subway, at my desk over lunch, right before I go to bed. With "100 New Yorkers: A Guide to Illustrious Lives and Locations" Holmes is like the person at a cocktail party everyone gathers around to hear tell stories--stories about amazing people who have lived here and about the interesting, tragic, remarkable, funny, magical lives they've lead.

The book makes even the most jaded New Yorker love that they live here. It's really quite special.

This beautifully produced book contains 100 well chosen black and white photographs and 100 well written biographies of people to whom New York was important. They lived in the City during different periods of its 350 year history, some honored, some detested, all deeply ingrained in its fabric.

Some like Dawn Powell and Malcolm X made it their home and part of their personal identity. Some like Edith Wharton and Sojourner Truth left it and wrote about what it lacked or what it had lost. Some like Mark Twain and Sarah Bernhardt loved it despite its rough edges. Some like Anthony Comstock fought its moral lapses. Some like Emma Goldman and Dorothy Day devoted their lives to helping the flood of immigrants. All were deeply influenced, and many influenced, this great city.

One index includes the 100 people and the sites associated with each of them. A second index lists connections among the 100 New Yorkers and the places in the city where their lives intersected. Examples include: Elizabeth Bishop and Marianne Moore meeting on a bench outside of the New York Public Library reading room; and the midnight walks of Jacob Riis and Theodore Roosevelt through the slums of Lower Manhattan.

The "Chicago Tribune" captured this book perfectly: "One hundred famous New York faces are profiled in this fascinating travel companion. Find out where Edgar Allen Poe used to drink, which clubs gave Joey Ramone his musical break and which bar was Babe Ruth's favorite. Each section in 100 New Yorkers takes the reader through a tour of the celebrities' residencies, love affairs, scandals, accomplishments, and where you can see their legacies--whether in art museums, immortalized in stone or celebrated in song. There's a great selection of everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. and Malcolm X to Mae West and George Washington."

This little guide is a perfect companion on a visit through the lives of 100 fascinating people and places that made a difference to them.

I saw this book on Amazon and purchased this book as a gift for a friend who is a fire fighter. He couldn't put it down. He said it is an excellent, well-written book and a must read for every fire fighter out there! While the average person, who is not a fire fighter, would not probably identify with the characters and stories in this book, the person who is a fire fighter will identify with them, because of their experiences on the job. This book is out of print and hard to find, but highly recommended

I too read this book some 25 years ago while in high school. My dad was in the fire department, read it and passed it along to me, saying if I wanted to read what his work was really like, this book said it all perfectly.

If you can find this book, buy it and pass along to anyone who wants to know what being a firefighter is really all about. Descriptive, accurate and pulls no punches in the job-warts and all.

Highly recommend it, even if only to read true adventure which novelists can't match.

This is the book to find. Like one of the other reviewers, I had this book many years ago, and read it until it literally fell apart. I found it again at a public library about two years ago, and I long to once again have it in my collection.

I read this book, when I was in college. This is a very well written testament about the careers and experiences on New York City Fire Fighters. Ten years later, I am still trying to locate copies of this book, to give to my friends, who now work for the FDNY.

Many years ago, I lost my copy of 20,000 ALARMS, and now find it is out of print! This makes finding a copy tricky. What a blow! Fortunately I've read it so many times that most of has stayed with me over the years. I recently found a copy in another cities public libary and read it overnight. I think that this should sum up my review. If YOU have a spare copy, I'd love to hear from you! E-mail: p.jay@pei.sympatico.ca

This is the kind of cookbook I just love. The appeal of wonderful recipes enchanced by interesting facts, trivia and gossip-y information on the history of the 21 club is just irresistable to me!

The recipes themselves are really simple in contrast to, for example, some of martha stewart's recipes that get complicated by their telescopic travels into the minutia. In contrast to that the *21* recipes are bold in their simplicity. (Desserts seemed to me to be somewhat more complex, but than desserts tend to be) Some recipes fall into the traditional catagory and have been around for as long as the club has been, others are new. Its interesting to see the appeal of an old time favorite. I have been toying with the idea of trying the 21 traditional chicken hash for a number of year...

I have made quite a few of the side dishes and they are excellent. The roasted shallots are wonderful with meats and poultry. Roasted garlic is a classic. Maple glazed root vegetable is great for Thanksgiving. I havent tried the meat recipes because I fear that with the simplicity of the dishes the quality of the meat is crucial. I'm certain that i could hunt out the required grade of beef, if I tried I just havent to this point.

The chunky blue cheese and walnut dressing is amazing and the citus ginger dressing is wonderful on asparagus. There are many *winners* in this cookbook. But for me the real appeal is the history of the resturant. What presidents ate there...who was the first woman to wear pants there...who ordered and got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...things on that line. Cartoons about 21 dot the book, rememberences are interspersed with wine suggestions... news stories and even a photo of michael douglas and charlie sheen from wall street. The 21 club is a cultural icon and this book shows it. Its the best of both worlds..both solid cookbook and warm memories.

The book itself has a very nice size for a cookbook. More square than rectangle and with a separate jacket cover than you can wipe spills off of. It lies flat, a must for cook books and the binding has been sturdy over the 4 years that I have owned it. The pages are not all that resistant to spills and staining will occur, unfortunately they are not glossy so you can not wipe them. They are bright white and easily read altho a bit thin, you can see the text from the next page thru them (not enough to be especially confusing but .... )

This is an excellent addition to any recipe collection. A great gift for the *foodie* in your life or even someone who enjoys the history of NY city, perhaps.

An excellent history of a landmark New York restaurant. The book is two-fold: Recipes which focus on quality and are quite user-friendly - woven with a history rich with anecdotes, illustrated with wonderful photographs and drawings. A great read for any cook and/or lover of New York City.

I've had this cookbook for a few years and use it often - I look forward to the day Mr. Lomonaco publishes another book - his meals at Windows on the World are wonderful.

Enjoyable book, especially for any reader who dined at the Club during it's heyday of '40s and '50s. Food and recipes are solid. Eben though current chef was not around during the memory era, the food is excellent. Many are attempts to preserve famous dishes as they were prepared and served during time of big bands. Great gift book as well.

An excellent history of a landmark New York restaurant. The book is two-fold: Recipes which focus on quality and are quite user-friendly - woven with a history rich with anecdotes, illustrated with wonderful photographs and drawings. A great read for any cook and/or lover of New York City.

I *loved* these books as a child-- so much that I found I could still remember some of the sentences word-for-word as an adult. Even as an adult I found myself giggling out loud as I read about The Bagthorpe's and their contest-entering mania.

Shame that it's out of print! Bring it back!

Absolute Zero, the 2nd in the Bagthorpes series was the book that hooked me to the Bagthorpe series. The Bagthorpe clan with its outrageous personalities reminds me still of my own large eccentric family. One of my fondest childhood memories is the hours I spent laughing at the antics of Jack and his family. I found the feud between Uncle Parker and Mr. Bagthorpe to be hilarious. Mrs Fosdale is a wonderful minor character and her reaction to the pantry still dissolves me into hysteria. Jack Bagthorpe was as close as a best friend to me. His misadventures with Zero and his family still make me laugh, smile and want to hear more. If your child is not quite ready for Harry Potter or needs a fill in the Bagthorpes though a different genre will absolutely do!

Absolute Zero, the 2nd in the Bagthorpes series was the book that hooked me to the Bagthorpe series. The Bagthorpe clan with its outrageous personalities reminds me still of my own large eccentric family. One of my fondest childhood memories is the hours I spent laughing at the antics of Jack and his family. I found the feud between Uncle Parker and Mr. Bagthorpe to be hilarious. Mrs Fosdale is a wonderful minor character and her reaction to the pantry still dissolves me into hysteria. Jack Bagthorpe was as close as a best friend to me. His misadventures with Zero and his family still make me laugh, smile and want to hear more. If your child is not quite ready for Harry Potter or needs a fill in the Bagthorpes though a different genre will absolutely do!

This is part 2 of Helen Cresswell's "Bagthorpe Saga", a truly hilarious series about a bizarre British family. As an adult, I still treasure these books and read them when I'm in need of a laugh. (For more description of the Bagthorpes, read the first review of "Ordinary Jack", the first book in the series. I agree with that reviewer's comments.)

I think part of the reason these books aren't very well known in the US is that the reading level is quite high, especially compared to most contemporary kids' series. A young person who's a gifted reader and appreciates British-style humour - a la "Monty Python" or "Fawlty Towers" - would surely enjoy them. I'd suggest checking used bookshops (e.g. through Bibliofind web site), or the Amazon UK site. You won't regret getting to know the Bagthorpes!

Absolute Zero is the second book of the Bagthorpe Saga, and in my opinion, it's the best, although the first four in the series are all exceptional. I loved these books as a child, and I love them now as an adult - it's a pity they are out of print in the US. (They are, however, still available in the UK, and US readers can order them online from amazon.co.uk, among other online shops. Believe me, the extra shipping is more than worth it.)

Like Ordinary Jack before it, Absolute Zero chronicles the lives of the eccentric, lunatic Bagthorpes. Competition madness overtakes the family after the urbane Uncle Parker wins a Caribbean trip for two. Better yet, while Uncle Parker and Aunt Celia take their trip, their daughter Daisy, the world's only destructively creative four-year-old, is left with the Bagthorpes. Hilarity inevitably ensues, in the shape of Daisy-induced disasters, police involvement, and unfortunate prizes.

The dry humor and intelligent wit of the early books in the Bagthorpe series raise them above their genre, and the books are as fresh and entertaining now as fifteen years ago. Any adult who still knows how to laugh would enjoy these novels, and as for children - well, the danger isn't that they won't like it. The danger is that they will start tearing the labels off canned goods in their parents' pantries, in hopes of recreating the joy of the series.

(NB: The last few books of the series - I believe it's now up to seven or eight books - are not at all worth reading. The first four in the saga are musts, and true Bagthorpe fans will probably enjoy book five and even book six, but after that, don't bother. Spare yourself the pain of seeing one of the best humorous series of our time go to pot.)

Great graphics, tremendous research, a treasure trove for "data miners" from all spectrums of science - ecology, climatology, sociology, forestry, geology, etc. Once you read this book you will understand the Adirondacks far better than most life-long residents of the region.

Geologically, the Adirondacks owe more to the Canadian Shield from which it arises as it passes under the St. Lawrence River. This remarkable coffee table book contains some of the most majestic and intimately beautiful photographs of the East's greatest wilderness. Far from simply showing the natural landscape, this volume delves into the Adirondack Park's culture, history and economics. The book also explores through photographs and narrative, the complex mixture of people and wilderness and it's fragile coexistence. This is a grand mixture of prose and photography that will please anyone, fan of the Adirondack Mountains or one about to be.

Because a good picture can be worth a thousand words, or quite possibly ten thousand, as demonstrated by the detailed, high quality graphics packing every page of Jenkins' book, his "Adirondack Atlas" (which is ever so much more than an "atlas") truly can be said to contain volumes of fascinating, up-to-date, accurate and pertinent information on our incomparable six-million acre "forever wild" forest park. Indeed, this one model reference book captures in its 267 pages an amount of information equivalent to that found in a small library of the best available books on Adirondack history, politics, geography, geology, ecology and natural history, and then adds considerable information and highly readable interpretation that can be found in no other published work. It is a miracle of a book, the work of a stunning and accomplished intellect.

Very informative book - a wealth of current knowledge. A pleasure to pick up in spare moments to read a bit and expand my knowledge of this great park. Have shared with friends already.

Jerry Jenkins and Andy Keal do a great job covering the entire spectrum of the Adirondack Park, which I find helpful when doing research for my books, "New York State's Mountain Heritage: Adirondack Attic" volumes 1-3. Their compilation of material is astounding and historic in itself, a marvel of Adirondack publishing. It tires me to think of the countless hours of research that went into writing this book. This is a must-read for those who love New York State's Adirondack Mountains.

Reviewed by India Furney (age 12) for Reader Views (12/07)

When William Durant was a young man he did something he has regretted ever since.

A few days before Halloween, he rented a camp on Indian Point near Raquette Lake. The local townspeople told him to stay away from the graveyard or else the spirits would get angry and he'd have to face the consequences. He doesn't believe them and decides to take a stroll through the graveyard to prove that ghosts don't exist. What happens next will surprise you; perhaps ghosts really do exist.

I liked "Adirondack Nightmare," but feel I'm a little too old for it. It wasn't scary enough for me. I think it would appeal to ages 7 to 9, or kids who don't like books too scary. I thought the recipes inside were cool and want to try them.

My name is Chuck Bombard. I was born and brought up in Plattsburgh. I lived on "Fox Hill" (Johnson Ave.) and went to Our Lady of Victory High School (class of 1962). I am currently in Tampa, FL. A friend of mine recently returned from a vacation in the Adirondacks and brought me back an autographed copy of "Adirondack Nightmare." As I scanned through the book, my friend watched as my eyes lit up when I saw that the author was from Plattsburgh and on one of the pages was a picture of a michigan hot dog! I told him that the picture of the michigan brought back so many wonderful memories for me. I was in the Army for 29 years and would always return to Plattsburgh to visit family whenever we could. One of our first stops whenever we were back in town was Clare and Carl's michigan red hot stand. My mouth waters just thinking about it. My wife has a great michigan recipe, but we're going to try yours. Thanks for bringing back some memories of great times. Chuck Bombard (I have given the author permission to use this endorsement in any way she sees fit.)

Halloween Trick or Treat
By PETE KLEIN
In time for Halloween is a new book by Rebecca Leonard, titled: Adirondack Nightmare.
The short, fun read-aloud, takes place in Raquette Lake and tells the story of a young boy from Montreal who is foolish enough to break some taboos concerning the local graveyard while visiting the area for a few days.
The story begins with the protagonist saying, "My name is William Durant and it is October 31st, Halloween. As I stare out my dark window, seeing fewer costume children and hearing less laughter than usual on Halloween, I am overcome with remorse."
The young man is remembering and his remorse is based upon the warnings from the locals he did not follow when he was a few years younger than he now is.
The story goes on to tell of the mistakes he made and how those mistakes aggravated the local ghosts enough to raise them from their rest and frighten children to stay home on Halloween.
Included in the book and made part of the story is a sauce recipe for "michigan hot dogs," a recipe for caramel and chocolate covered candied apples and another recipe for maple syrup cookies. This could make for some fun in the kitchen as well as in the reading - as long as you don't stain the book with what you've been eating!
The author says this book is aimed at young readers, grades 2-5, and those young readers will certainly enjoy the helpful illustrations drawn by the author's 15-year old son, Nick.
Leonard and her family live in Plattsburgh where she is the owner of the "Under One Roof Video" store.
The book is currently available from a number of regional and online bookstores.

Written by mother of two Rebecca Leonard and featuring numerous black-and-white computer-generated illustrations by her son Nick Leonard, Adirondack Nightmare: A Spooky Tale in the North Country is a Halloween adventure novel for young people new to chapter books. Enhanced with tasty original Adirondack recipes like "John and Mary's Best Michigan Sauce Recipe Ever" and "Caramel & Chocolate Covered Candied Apple Recipe", Adirondack Nightmare is goosebump-inducing treat from cover to cover. A great holiday mood-setting story for reading aloud chapter by chapter or allowing novice readers to immerse themselves in the spine-chilling joy of words.

I loved this book and all of the receipe's, especially the michigans! I grew up in the area and this book allowed me to travel back to my roots. Thank you Rebecca and Nick for this wonderful trip down memory lane!

Airwaves is O'Shaughnessy at hist best! From Mario Cuomo to Nelson Rockefeller, Airwaves gives a unique insight into some of the most fascinating figures of the Empire State and beyond. The candid conversations shed new light on the personal aspects of these rich characters who have helped shaped the state. O'Shaughnessy puts his guests at ease with a flair born from years of interviews and radio editorials that made the legendary broadcaster who he is today.

return we us now to those days of yesteryear..

The book is implemental to the collections of book lovers everywhere. I'm the same age as the author and I have not even half the amount of stories he has to tell. And, I don't even have half the amount of hair. WOW! What a book!

Nobody captures the essence of society's colorful characters like O'Shaughnessy. His perspectives on freedom of speech and The First Amendment are inspirational.

William O'Shaughnessy is everything we love about the Irish. He's irreverent, colorful, warm, and kind. This collection of radio editorials would be worth far more than its price if you were to receive only pages 61-64 for your money. (Think of the other 387 excellent pages as coming "at no extra charge.")

I was conducting a seminar in Manhattan for the great Joe Riley when I was introduced to Bill. I gave him a copy of my latest book and he gave me a copy of his, this (just released) Airwaves. I wasn't expecting much... but then I'm an idiot.

William O'Shaughnessy beggared America by limiting his radio commentary to Westchester County, New York. He should have been a network anchor.

Even though the book has a somewhat regional "New York" flavor, (I'm from Texas,) I liked it.

Bill! Write us another one!

a difficult book to read, stylistically speaking. the sentences are awkward, and 300 pages later i couldn't adapt to the point that they smoothed out. chapters 2-5, roughly 100 pages, seemed particularly viscous. i went through the entire book without feeling that i really knew what the author meant by the term "daimonic." there's a footnote from the intro that gives a hint, another hint on page 65, but after going through it a third time the best i can do is work backward from terms from freud and jung. diamond provides reasonably informative and entertaining overviews of noted theorists and brief biographies of creative artists. the most welcome line of the book for me was a quote from rollo may: "the task of the therapist is to conjure up the devils rather than put them to sleep." no devils, and few other readers, will be particularly stirred up by the book, i'm afraid, but i give it a four for the revelation that western thinkers have arrived at "confrontation therapy" mere thousands of years after the orient (a zen master shoved his non-swimming student into a deep pond. as the student thrashed, the master calmly asked, "at this moment, what is your original mind?").

Diamond redeems anger in much the same way that May redeemed Anxiety over 50-years ago. A student of May's, Diamond shows an excellent grasp of both May's work and the broader context of exisential and depth psychology. Particularly helpful is Diamond's ability to apply the concept of the daimon to psychopathology and the psychological disorders. This provides for a penetrating analysis of pathology from an existential perspective along with a new approach to the etiology of these disorders.

In this single volume, Diamond shows himself to be one of the leaders in contemporary existential thought. This book should be a must read for contemporary students and practitioners of depth psychology.

A good orientation, thorough review of the development of existential/depth psychology, with a refreshing, updated point of view. Immediate, practical applications for some of today's most pressing isssues. Good for an educated public as well as for mental health professionals. -- Bruce F. Pither, Ph.D., President, American Mental Health Alliance of California

I am writing to express my deep appreciation of Dr. Diamond's book Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic. I am a Grandmother and a lay person, and yet I can understand and relate to every word written. This book should be read by every single mental health professional. It is so relevant and important. We plan to tell everyone we know about this book. We believe that this book and Diamond's insight are right on target, and would like to thank him for his courage and conviction in writing this book. Dr. Diamond should be applauded by every member of his profession.

I am a clinical psychologist, and in my list of favorite books, I write this:

Diamond writes: "The volatile emotions of anger and rage have been broadly `demonized,' vilified, maligned, and rejected as purely pathological, negative impulses with no real redeeming qualities. As a result, most `respectable' Americans habitually suppress, repress, or deny their anger-inadvertently rendering it doubly dangerous." He also clarifies, while developing the ideas of Rollo May, how we therapists collude with our clients and culture, thus depriving ourselves of the value and resources of this normal dimension of our being. He integrates psychoanalytic, Jungian, and existential theory under a new rubric of Existential Depth Psychology. As May states, our job is often "not to still the daimons but to wake them."

In addition, I think this is an important, engaging, and well-written work that I wish all my colleagues would read.

This is the best translation of Taoist sexual practices available. The translation formatting is excellent. If you have any degree of previous exposure to Chinese language and Taoist concepts this is not a spring board to further knowledge, it is a rosetta stone. Not an ounce of this text is watered down, like so many of the other books on this subject. Further, the full inclusion of herbal formulas in this text are incredibly vital to understanding the true value of huang di's teachings from su nu.

Best of all ... there are no pictures.

A fine text by a true scholar.

Here is the largest collection of historical Chinese texts on Taoist sexuality in English, excellently translated and footnoted. A must have reference work for the serious, advanced student.

This is not an introductory text, and I think a beginner would be hard pressed to understand and practice many of the techniques in the book.

I'm just a beginner on this subject,I started with some photocopies on the subject(nothing special)and found them not very elucidatory. I wanted to know more!...then I bought this book,although I haven't read it all,from the pages I read, I felt I could comprehend easier what was being said.It explained certain doubts that came accross from the other texts I read.

I think(from the little insight I have)that this book is perfect to understand the subject, if one already knows something about Taoist ancient sexual practices.

This book collects nearly two dozen classical writings on the use of sexual energy in achieving health and long life. It's a distinctly non-Western tradition, but presents a unified, interlocking set of ideas.

The largest part of this lore corresponds to Western alchemy. It uses many of the same metaphors, such as mercury, lead, and the crucible, and much of the same elliptical language. In a few places, the metaphors or code-words are so obscure that translators disagree wildly on their meanings, and even on whether the meanings can be reconstructed correctly. Other parts of the writings draw on mystical Taoism, Buddhism, and the same vital energies that explain acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. Not surprisingly, much of the tradition is aimed at male readers, with relatively little concern for the women. Despite the over-all male orientation, the last few selections do address women, with needs that sometimes match and sometimes differ from the men's. Even the men's writings address the importance of the woman's excitement, though, and describe the outwardly visible signs of its many stages.

However it is phrased or whoever it is addressed to, this set of practices is based on summoning and channeling sexual energy. Many of the authors use the "paired way" of coition to raise that power. Others use solo exercises in self-stimulation for the same purpose. This seems especially common in the women's texts, possibly because placing her needs before the man's would have been culturally unacceptable. The emphasis is on yogic self-discipline rather than exotic poses. Still, one author does offer a list of couplings with poetic names such Mandarin Ducks United (a pose I enjoy very much, because of range of additional caresses it makes possible). I recommend this book very highly to students of Asian thought and to anyone else who wants to see different perspectives on the practice and power of human sexuality.

//wiredweird

This is a work of scholorship and not simply a book about the ancient Chinese view of sex. It's very complete and contains both usuful material for moderns and very interesting historical material regarding alchemy, Qi Gong and Chinese medicine as they relate to sex.