Asia Books

Fascinating read, hopefully many will read this book and join in the fight to save this beautiful animal from extinction.

Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, shining bright! This book must be read---a marvelous story well-told and an ongoing lesson for us all.
Thank you, sir!
Fascinating and relevant and eloquent.

While there has been a lot of criticism of Alan Rabinowitz's efforts in Myanmar, this book should put them to rest. Rabinowitz makes clear his desire to incorporate local stakeholders in the Hukawng Tiger Reserve and give them a surprisingly open voice in an otherwise closed society. Moreover, he makes a good argument that the reserve will bring aid and funds directly to villagers in northern Burma that otherwise might have been neglected.

Some of the highlights in the book include Rabinowitz's meetings with high level Burmese officials, including former prime minister Khin Nyunt, and senior leaders of the KIO. I appreciate the fact that he wrote so openly of his relations with these officials, especially as some of them (particularly Khin Nyunt) are no longer in power and whose association could brand WCS with a stigma within Burma. Of course, the central story of the book, setting up the reserve, is full of adventure.

I am also impressed by how intimately Rabinowitz shares his emotions and thoughts with the reader (and not always in a light that makes him look good). While I can't claim to know him well, he seems honest and straightforward in his account (a relief after reading so many political autobiographies).

In short, this is a great book if you want to go beyond the very important headlines about Burma and see what it's really like to travel, work, and do conservation in this challenging but fascinating country (for those looking for books on Burma's politics, I highly recommend the books by David Steinberg and Thant Myint-U).

I came to the "Valley of Death" after having read Rabinowitz's prior account of working in Burma. I'd also read and enjoyed his book about Thailand. I have fairly deep ties to SE Asia, esp. Thailand. I had the experience of seeing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi give one of her last public talks and was deeply touched by my travel in Burma during the 90s.

Rabinowitz's book works well on a number of different levels. He describes the process of doing field research in a way that communicates the technical issues, the human relations issues, and the political considerations, and does it in a way that is matter of fact and accessible, while making the details interesting and vital. Rabinowitz's main concern is the protection of wildlife and their habitat, but he never loses sight of the people who have to share the environment with the tigers and other animals that he wishes to protect. He has a truly broad understanding of ecology, development, and conservation that is often missing when policies for environmental issues are discussed.

Rabinowitz brings his personal life into the story, and describes his experience as a person with leukemia and as a man who is never far from the the things that brought him to nature and complicated his early life. He relates all this without evoking self-pity or letting his own story get in the way of protecting the tigers of northern Burma. Rabinowitz provides a useful overview of Burmese politics and provides a rather candid-sounding account of his dealings with a secretive totalitarian government. Some people will be put off by his willingness to deal with the Burmese regime, but he lays out his case as well as anyone could and I admire his ability to make things happen under the circumstances.

The book should appeal to people who are interested in SE Asia (and Burma in particular), as well as those who are willing to engage environmental issues in a very practical way. Rabinowitz also writes well about science, without sounding like a scientist and people seeking careers in field work, even if it has nothing to do with tigers, can learn a lot from reading about his experience. The book ends with a note of optimism, but also plenty of realism. My hope is that we get to hear more from Rabinowitz and that we see get to see him make more strides for the tigers and their human neighbors in northern Burma.

Liquid Life is an intriging look at abortion in modern day Japan. The argument is well formulated and the publication is well researched. Liquid Life is an excellent read. Those attempting to understand Japan MUST comprehend the abortion issue in the country today. *****

I can heartily recommend this book. I once took a course taught by LaFleur which was one of the best courses on understanding Japanese Buddhism and the practice of abortion. This book matches his good lecturing style.

What is interesting is that in the West abortion is viewed in primarily negative terms, as is infanticide. LaFleur's initial attitude was: How can Japanese engage in this kind of activity on such a large scale? What role does belief in reincarnation (according to Buddhism) play?

Rather than bringing in Western moral preconceptions that might prejudge his discussion, LaFleur treats this sensitive topic with great insight and sensitivity. This book will be a very interesting read for those interested in Japanese society and Buddhism.

This is, of course, a book about Japan and Japanese attitudes
toward birth, death and the fragility of life. Because it is
also a book about abortion, it also touches on an issue that
is incredibly hot in America even as abortion has become
an uncontroversial fact of life in most of the rest of the
world.
So it is a tribute to the author's scholarship as well as to
the scope of his world view that he stays true to the business
of explaining a Japanese Buddhist take on the world without
overtly indulging in taking sides in the American controversy.
It' a tribute to his depth of understanding that in spite of
this lack of partisanship, this splendid book has something to
teach us all and some light to shed on the American debate.

It would oversimplify LaFleur's arguement to sum it up, but one
thread is something like this. The Japanese view of a newborn
is that it is a potential life. This view is even more emphatic
in the case of an unborn-a foetus. People become people in
this view by a gradual process of socialization.
Rather than being heartless, this way of looking at things has
a great deal to recommend it-especially in days when infant
mortality was high. Parents who lost a new-born or an unborn
child could pray for the return of that child in a subsequent
pregnancy. The ritual system, which provided no funeral for
one who died so young, affirmed the tentative nature of the
dead one's membership in the human community.
If it takes socialization to make a human and a family to make
socialization, then it is also up to the community and the
family to decide if that's going to happen at all. In this
view, life in infancy is a liquid that hardens into indiv-
iduality with time.
So infant death and miscarriage are sad, but not final. The
unborn child gets to come around again, maybe with better karma.
This, of course, removes abortion from the realm of murder/
choice. It also forces all of us to see our various positons
in the American debate as products of our social and religious
assumptions just as the Japanese view is the product of theirs.

Again, this is not a book about the American abortion wars.
It is instead, a splendid book about Japanese religious beliefs
across a swath of history and how they affect attitudes. By
staying true to his topic, LaFleur teaches us a great deal.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN
9781601640005

William R. LaFleur gives us a book which is well made. Piece by piece Mr. LaFleur goes over the history of abortion, buddhism, family planning, sexuality attitudes and even woman's lib in Japan. By the time he reaches his conclusion, you can't help but feel like you, yourself, have also researched and processed all the information.

Near the end, when he compares the Japanese ideas to American ideas on the issue, you can't help but feel that maybe it was all a well placed trap, to get you to look at the whole mess from a different point of view, not just the pro-life/pro-choice, good/bad, yes/no, on/off American way (where every issue only has two sides and the winner gets total victory, so no mercy!)

You might not like some of the points made, but it will sure force you to think.

I have lived 27 years as an American in Japan and I find Ruthy Kanagy's book to be accurate and complete. This book covers a wide breadth of important material succinctly without even one boring or pedantic line in the whole book. It contains interesting informatation ranging from Japanese history and geography to how to open a bank account or how to make conversation with a Japanese. It is written eloquently and intelligently with insight and information to benefit the experienced traveler or the first time traveler to Japan. The original photographs and descriptions are refreshingly fair and true to the experience of living in Japan today. A must read for anyone planning a trip to Japan.

An interesting enough book, that it's a great read not only for to-be-visitors of Japan, but for Japanese readers as well. Unlike other travel books which cover only the sightseeing aspect of Japan putting weight on traditional Japanese culture, this book is well balanced in describing everyday life, the real Japan today, The Japanese mind (important in getting acquainted with Japan), as well as the tradition. The book is also good at pointing out the interesting mixture of the past and present (for example, kimono-clad woman talking on a cell-phone). The facts and advice are all practical, up to date and accurate based on the author's actual experience living in Japan. As a Japanese citizen, I recommend reading this book whether you plan to visit/live in Japan or not, to find out what Japan is all about now. (which is not just Geisha, samurai, Toyota and Sony. :-))

Kanagy's "Living Abroad in Japan" covers just about everything you need to know to do just that and is generally geared towards those interested in staying for a longer period than just a week's vacation.

Kanagy covers a brief introduction to the country before laying out such topics as VISA explanations, taxes, finding a place to live, transportation, and what to expect in daily life. It also includes several sections devoted to specific regions and an extensive list of contact information for everything from real estate offices to healthcare providers to internet service providers.

While the book was published in 2004, much of the information is still accurate and applicable. For example, Kanagy uses 1 dollar = 110 yen to estimate costs and, as of writing this review, her estimate is not far from the present 1:120.

Ruthy Kanagy has produced a comprehensive and useful guide for those thinking of taking the plunge across the Pacific and moving to Japan. Living Abroad in Japan joins many other well-done titles put out by the publishers Living Abroad In. Kanagy, herself born and raised in Tokyo, approaches her subject as only an insider could. The book assumes the reader knows nothing but does not speak down to her-and is well written and full of detail. It is neatly broken into chapters on Japan (history, government, economy, people, culture), daily life (moving, language, health, employment, finance, communications, travel, and housing), and "prime living locations" (Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kansai, Nagano, and Hiroshima).
The back of the book too is filled with useful indices: contacts, a phrasebook, suggested reading/films, clothing sizes, and an index. Having lived in Japan-Tokyo and Kyoto-for 15 years, I thought this would be a guide for someone just off the boat (i.e., not for me). It most certainly is for those new to or thinking of coming to Japan; however, it is much more than that. Even for the long-term resident of Japan, this is an invaluable guide.

This is an essential guide for travel in Bangladesh. Like all the books in the Lonely Planet travel series, it begins with Facts about the Country, Facts for the Visitor, Getting There and Away, and Getting Around. Next comes a detailed description of Dhaka and the surrounding district, and then separate chapters for each of the major political and geographical divisions in Bangladesh.

Before traveling to Bangladesh, do take the time to read the Dos & Don'ts article in the Facts about the Country chapter. People in Bangladesh are generally friendly and polite, but they tend to be more friendly if you follow their rules for politeness. Men should give local women some distance, and even women should let other women approach them first. People who wear shorts in Bangladesh are risking at least their reputations, if not more. Going about in shorts in public would be akin to wearing a bikini bathing suit on Wall Street- -sure to gain a lot of unwanted attention. Western women will find themselves much more comfortable in local clothing, salwar kamis or saris as absolutely no woman wears Western clothing in Bangladesh. Women packing for a trip in Bangladesh might be better off packing no clothing at all, and just shopping for local clothing upon arrival because what they find in the local markets will be appropriate for both the climate and the culture. (That will also leave more room in your suitcase for gifts on the way in and souvenirs on the way out.)

Many educated people in Bangladesh speak English quite well. But the average person on the street doesn't, so take the time to study the useful expressions from Facts about the Country chapter when you get a chance. While you're at the airport waiting for departure, look around- -surely there's someone there who can help you with your pronunciation.

As for any travel in the developing world, make sure your immunizations are up to date before you go to Bangladesh. Hepatitis A vaccinations are highly recommended and get your travel doctor to write you a prescription for a full run of Cipro (strong antibiotic) to carry with you, and take plenty of rehydration packets. If you get seriously ill while in Bangladesh, it's better to try to get to Dr. Wahab's office (listed in the Dhaka section of this book), rather than the Cholera Hospital, as recommended elsewhere in the book.

As the book mentions, there's a lot to see in Dhaka. There's even more to see outside of Dhaka, where the air is better and the people are friendlier. A great way to get out of town is to book a tour with Prajatan or The Guide (info in the Dhaka chapter). We had a spectacular all-inclusive boat cruise through the Sunderbans with The Guide (Prajatan's boat had recently sunk). Don't miss shopping in the NGO handicraft stores, particularly Aarong (info in the Dhaka chapter).

As with any guidebook, the info for specific hotels and eateries tends to change between the time the authors visited and publication, but the historic sites and regional highlights will always be there. Read this book over several times before you go, and you will be ready as ever to start your adventure.

This is the best lonelyplanet guide book I've ever had. Normally, I find them OK but irritating. Miraculously, this one is different.
Firstly, it's not too big (unlike, say, the Indian one) and is not afraid to leave some good stuff OUT. Secondly, it's very well researched, which is impressive in Bangladesh because information isn't all that readily available. Nor is it patronising in tone!
Best of all, though, is that reference to women travellers isn't restricted to a nauseating passage on what women "shouldn't" do because of the dangers, and then special women's diseases. Instead, it actually suggests that there are advantages to being a woman and special places to visit (such as women's development programs) that might interest women in particular. Yay! Welcome to the 21st century LP! I don't know what this sudden change in tone is due to, but I hope it spreads throughout the LP philosophy.
Otherwise, the information is helpful and up-to-date. The maps are a bit dodgy and could do with some work. For example, Thanchi does NOT lie between Ruma and Keokradung, and nor is Keokradung the highest peak in Bangladesh. The Chittagong map, in particular, is fairly useless.
Still, a very nice job. Very impressive. Very interesting and well written.

This was my first Lonely Planet book and I could not have made the trip without this very informative and helpfull book. I highly recommend any Lonely Planet books to any one traveling abroad.

I found this guide to be very informative and helpful. The maps are a very good basis for getting a sense of where various sections of the cities are located. Some guidebooks are sorely outdated but this book is still quite current. Many of the places mentioned are still in existence. We plan to take several of the recommended trips from this guidebook as well as cycling trips. Since moving to Dhaka I have used this book continually for a reference book. I would highly recommend reading this book before coming to visit Bangladesh!

If you've been finding haiku and tanka either stuffy, obscure, or dreary and are wondering why so many people seem to like it, this book will set the matter straight. Contained within its pages are dozens of truly excellent poems that engage the reader with surprising, eloquent, original, and evocative images and sensations. Covering far more than the usual range of expression, they touch on everything from being interrogation by the police to motherhood. Usually 'women's literature' tends to focus on the author's narrow view of what women 'ought' to be; this book presents a broad range of women experiencing all manner of things with all sorts of attitudes.

Unfortunately, the book shares one fault with many others of its kind: The notes are insufficient. Yes, each poem should and does stand on its own, but not all of them make them make it across the cultural divide as well as others. For example, Nakamura's 'land-locked bride / tempted offshore -- / the open sea' can be read as the straightforward longing of a woman for a broader horizon, but if the reader also knows that Japanese women often commit suicide by wading into the sea and drowning, then it acquires an intensity that lifts it from the realm of the good to the excellent.

The other thing that disappointed me is that the Japanese originals were not included in the book. For those of us that can read a little Japanese, being able to decipher even a few of the poems in their original form is a great gift. Even those who can't can still look at the shape of the poem on the page and note patterns of sound and syllable that helps to convey some idea of the original.

Nonetheless, the poetry works and works well. It is a breathtakingly beautiful work, and compares favorably to that hoary old classic, Ueda's Modern Japanese Tanka. If you're wanting to introduce somebody to modern Japanese poetry, I'd give them this book over Ueda's book any day - male readers included.

"A Long Rainy Season" is a refreshing collection of contemporary haiku and tanka written by Japanese women. The poems within speak of loneliness, and breasts, politics and menstruation. It is inspiring to see the haiku eye expressed from women's points of view. There is nothing dry or dull in this volume, and the content is as varied as the women who wrote the poems. I would recommend this to anyone who loves these poetic forms, especially those who just can't see past Basho and his poetic brothers .

The beautiful unfolding of a tradition that simply has not existed in English until now. Here, we are given an anthology of haiku and tanka by contemporary women poets tackling modern topics - feminism, sexuality, politics - with an elegant aesthetic. Hopefully, this long, rainy, fertile season will
continue with much more from these talented translators of hidden treasures.

As returning travellers will confirm, throughout the Asia-Pacific a tsunami of social and techno-transformation is unceasingly at work, directing outmoded Western notions of how Asia ticks toward the millenial trash bin. Odd therefore, how infrequently arrive the necessary antidotes to such shopworn myths as the "Asian female as Suzie Wong," and "Mother Asia as great slattern of the world," or Asia as "the inscrutable Other," etc. How welcome then comes the panache and sheer breadth of discovery to be found in this exquisite brace of new women's poetry compilations from the Japanese. Whether in English or elsewhere, only occasionally do poetry collections of such excellence come along that find immediate place of honour among readers, other poets, translators and critics alike. "A Long Rainy Season" and "Other Side River" are such books. The first major anthologies of contemporary Japanese women's poetry to arrive in English translation, they compose a brickhouse-solid tribute to the depth and strength of Japan's women poets who--until now--have remained virtually unknown abroad. And how delicious these translations are! The deeper one reads, the more absorbing becomes the enculturation provided by their poetic concerns, which begin to grow with commensurate familiarity--feminism, identity, emergence and constriction, sexuality, child-rearing, aging, existence. Lowitz and her collaborators demonstrate an intuitive sensibility regarding what qualifies among Japanese women poets, and their selections and interpreting skills are convincing. For an awfully long time, what we've had available in English from Japan's women poets has been chiefly the rough-legged classical translations of Rexroth and his disciples. With these two new books, however, Lowitz, Aoyama and Tomioka expand the canon enormously, and it is not overestimating them to number "A Long Rainy Season" and "Other Side River" among the half dozen most significant collections of poetry to arrive internationally in the past few years. That they are presented in handsome, affordably priced editions from Stone Bridge Press, a relatively new press dedicated to translations from the Japanese, makes their happy arrival all the better. Producing volumes such as these cannot have been a light task and we are indebted to such cross-cultural work in service of the muse.

This book is a memoir of a decade past written following a Rockerfeller grant to study the women's emancipation movement in SW PRChina, to later compare and contrast with a similar study in Taipei, Taiwan. This fieldwork is undertaken with the cooperation of the Propaganda Dept, Women's Federation, Chengdu, Szechwan province, PRChina.

Structurally this book is a daily diary which covers, in part, her travels in China as well as some highlights of 100 interviews on women-owned, small business entrepreneurs, that were formed during the Deng's Reform and Opening campaign of the late 80s.

Her POE is Guangzhou, where she decides to initially travel alone much as the natives do. Her travel scenarios, including her visit to Kunming, City of Eternal Spring, in the first 50 pages of the book, where she had local academic acquaintances to show her the sights. She speaks Putonghua, a form of Mandarin, so she can slowly communicate with the locals in a basic form. It appears that she does not like reading Chinese. In part, she writes with the older Wade-Giles form of romanization, so Szechwan is Sichuan and Taipei is Taibei. Armed with an Academy letter, she uses it to travel, as best she can to cajole the ticket sellers and hostel and guesthouse desks, the way the natives do, and cites prices in RMB, and FEC only when there is no other alternative or she wishes to splurge with a hot bath.

The more memorable scenarios is her visit to Kunming, capital of the mountainous Yunnan province p36-44 in December 1988. They travel up the Burma Road a bit and discuss the minority people and their distinctive dress p54-8. She eats the native food and promptly gets a bad case of diarrhea, spends two days in bed. She buys a beautiful Naxi cape from a leather maker that was destined to be another bride's dowry.

Halfway through her anthropological project, her tired workgroup of four demands that she take vacation and unknownst to her, her host department arranged a 7-day holiday with a drive and excursion into far Western Szechwan province to enjoy the Fall colors and stay with a Tibetan family p109-138. Anticipating a boring trip and getting behind in her project, she crankily accompanies the group during another PMS episode. Contrary to her expectation, she enjoys the trip immensely, romps in the forest, and sees blue sky. At each stop, there are local Women's Federation reps to show the group around and introduce them to native families, translate discussions, and describe what they are seeing. They discuss the Tibetan-Han dichotomy and how each culture tries to co-exist.

There are about 20 scenarios on interviews on women-owned businesses in the book. Most businesses are small, from mom & pop format to ones with handfuls of employees. They are the stereotypical grocery, restaurant, garment, and etc format. What I got out of the book was that women's survival during the "Great Leap Forward" and Cultural Revolution was very harsh, especially in the countryside. Initially the Politburo encouraged formation of these businesses, the owners used the profits to improve their houses, and then the tax collectors came to even things out in the socialist's tradition. So the Politburo is inventing their policies at time goes. It seeds flourishing entrepreneur until they become successful, then taxes them for an increased revenue stream.

Her writing is fairly well crafted and she discusses scenarios of general interest, so that one can finish the book without getting truly bored of repetitious fieldwork details. The book, divided into 19 chapters, includes about 20 photos of subjects, maps and travel itineries to follow along. There is no index and any notes are referenced on the bottom of the page. Comparatively, I would consider her prose better and more comprehensive than Paul Theroux, a China travel writer covering the same time period. But Peter Hessler is a better describer of Chinese thought and behavior; of course he spent 2 years at a teachers college and learned the local dialect. But as indicated in the preface, she notes her literary limits and includes her published bibliography of academic work.

The author is a Canadian born, UK raised and educated, who writes in UK prose, so you have to decipher the usual suspects that differ in UK vs US English. She earns her doctorate at Central Michigan U, but is at heart a Brit feminist, and constantly refers to it during her sojourn. From time to time this divorced, pre-menopausal woman titillates the reader with her fantasies as a ravishing redhead in China. To me this was pulp-fiction that the editors must have required her to put in the scripts to help sales. I could have also done without the monthly PMS issues.

She keeps contemporaneous notes on her notebook computer, so hopefully 10 years later, she doesn't over embellish or forget the details of her 6 month sojourn in Chengdu. I read this book at a local library.

She attempts to unify her prose by introducing a historical mentor that went before her, a fellow Brit, Ms Isabella Bird Bishop, who does China research in Szechwan a century earlier. Since she merely references her work in a couple pages p48-9, I find it rather distracting, yet amused that she compared her journey to hers.

Yes, I have read some of Gates' work, but not this one - it doesn't matter in this system. I am merely balancing a double counting of a positive textual review that registers numerically as a zero, thus artificially generating a very low average.
On balance Amazon reviews are useful, but the lack of control leads to this sort of nonsense. Note also the lack of signature on the doubled review; presumably just an error but one wonders given the recent Canadian site boondoggle with these reviews.

I lived in Japan for 9 years and this is a book I want to give friends who ask what it was like. Even though this book is about China, and China and Japan are not the same thing, reading this book helped me to understand much about what I had seen and been through in my own experience. Yes! Yes! Yes! I kept saying when I read it. This is how it was. And here is somebody putting it into words.

There are the underlying truths about Asia, and greater yet underlying truths about crossing between any two cultures. Finally, there are the truths about any woman's life whether she stays home or travels far. Hill Gates calls them as we all have seen them, from getting your period to getting your hair cut in a foreign land. There are the long van rides that constitute "vacations," the forced alcohol, the question of breakfast foods, unheated living quarters, unexplained prohibitions, glorious discoveries of beautiful scenery, and the eternal question of whether being a foreigner means you're also actually a woman.

But most of all, it's about the work. In this case, the work is anthropology. Here again, universal truths apply. Good work gives you an adequate struggle. You want to solve things, you want to apply your own talents. You want to learn and contribute, get and give, laugh and cry. Really, you do. You hope to be changed by it and come back with something to report. You enjoy sinking into the luxuries and comforts of your own familiar culture once you make it back to dry land. And then, one day down the road, you get that hankering to leave those comforts again...What a privilege having this life is. All it costs is the belief that you have control over anything.

My favorite quote from the book ought to warn off anyone who thinks you get to control your own dignity once you choose to put yourself out there. Gates nails it as she observes that, "When it comes to etiquette, the home team has the advantage."

Perhaps a third of the book is about traveling in China, mostly in southwestern China, where private enterprise blossomed during the 1980s. The other two thirds are about trying to do research funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, sponsored and administered by the Sichuan Fulian (Women's Federation--literally "Women United"). Anthropologists' fieldwork memoirs are published after more academic presentation of their research results--in Gates's case, a 1997 book _China's Motor: A Thousand Years of Petty Capitalism_ (that compares what she observed in the 1970s in Taiwan, historical records, and her 1987-96 research in Sichuan). The discomforts, including sickness, depression, frustrations about transportation, food, lodging, access to information, and the misunderstanding by "the natives" of the anthropologist's wisdom and good-will may not be vented in public at all.

Although the author is the major character in the account of her research in the years before and after the crackdown of the PRC gernotacry on private consumption and the accumulation of riches by anyone other than the families of high-placed officials, unlike much contemporary postmodernist anthropology, Gates remains interested in the agency of people (particularly women) trying to prosper in changing and difficult conditions in societies organized differently than the anthropologists' own one. Gates is engagingly honest about her frustrations with Chinese life as well as her joys of solidarity with those she studied and the reader learns some things about living through rapid change in the Chinese interior from her insightful book.

What a great book. Well written and witty. I felt like I was in China with him. Having friends who recently returned from China after adopting children, and their experiences there, I would recommend that everyone read this book before traveling to China. What an eye opener, and so funny at times that I laughed out loud. Educational, informative and entertaining all at once. The author has a wonderful personality and sense of humor- I could easily travel with him and think the same thoughts he did at events and surroundings he experienced. I was sorry the journey ended. If there were more than five stars, this book would get them.

J. Maarten Troost is a charming person with a wonderful story to tell and an unflagging sense of humor. Unfortunately, my pleasure in his writing was marred by the many signs that he is not a native English speaker and apparently neither is his editor. While his story is totally absorbing, the mistakes in his written language become a distraction and a sign of sloppy carelessness, and by the fifty page point I found myself bracing for the next clanger. He says slayed for slain, sight for site, at least twice he says nonplussed when he means unperturbed--I simply can't devise a context in which nonplussed works--and if he describes China's polluted air as 'swirling', he does it a hundred times. PLEASE Maarten, get a thesaurus and find another word for swirling! I started counting lines between repetitions of the word swirling and clenching my teeth when it occurred.
Okay, if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, I predict you will find this a really entertaining book, but be aware that after however many pages of being funny at his own expense Troost will hit you between the eyes with some devastating example of Chinese brutality and leave you gasping with relief that you're not Chinese. With this book Troost has cured me of my long held desire to visit China.

J. Maarten Troost has taken us to a small atoll in the South Pacific and to the volcanic Vanauatu in his previous books, Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned With Savages. Now he turns his wit and observational skills on that great unknown,China, in his latest endeavor, Lost on Planet China, and what a marvelous travelogue it is!

Told with his trademark wry humor, Lost on Planet China follows Troost as he starts off in the big cities of Beijing (which has given me a whole new perspective on the 2008 Summer Olympics), Shanghai, and Hong Kong. I was flabbergasted at the amount of pollution in China; it seems its entry into the twenty-first century is coming at a very high price. But like Troost, it was the western travels through Tibet, Leaping Tiger Gorge, and Dunhuang that I found the most informative and interesting. Troost's writing is such that I could feel the thin air and experience the death-defying trails seemingly first hand; his interactions with the peoples of China were fascinating glimpses into lives that I doubt I'll ever experience. I love that Troost chose to visit not just the obvious tourist stops such as the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Great Wall, but also smaller islands like Putuoshan. I came away with a real flavor for the history and the feel of China.

I enjoyed this book immensely, though I do wish Troost had told me two things that continually popped into my mind throughout the reading: Where did he get the money for such an extended trip (not that it's actually my business, but I'm curious), and what was his reunion with his wife and two young sons like once he finally left Planet China? Other than those two minor points, I have to say that this is another engaging entry in Troost's repetoire, and I'll be eagerly looking forward to seeing where we'll be traveling next.

As an aside, do watch the short films on the homepage of this book on Amazon. Not only are they funny, they give a bit of insight into the scenery and conditions experienced in Lost on Planet China.

As a China born, now California resident, I felt quite curious to read what an American had to say about my home country.

In the beginning, I will admit, I was somewhat offended by the way he portrayed us but then as I began to remember my last visit to my hometown (1 hour's drive from Bejing) and read more, I realized he was right. We do have quite a lot of pollution. We are possibly the rudest people on the planet. And the traffic is hell (what is considered good driving there, which is not crashing into someone, is quite different here.)

Some parts, like the beggars and the takeover of Tibet made me cry. I used to think Tibet was better off with China but after reading this, I realize I was grieviously blinded. Now I want to kick all my fellow Chinese out of Tibet. I do wonder though, if he gave the beggars money.

A lot of parts made me laugh. Hard. But I won't give any specifics away.

I learned a lot. Seriously, my mother didn't even know that you can bargain for taxi rides. Though we refrained from speaking english there to make sure we weren't cheated. The Mao Regimen especially was an eyeopener. I knew he was bad, but not Hitler bad. It really shows how censored China is.

And yes, it's true. We Chinese are proud. And we also hate Japan (most of us anyways - you'd be hard pressed to find someone not). And we can get REALLY crazy. One actress was told to wear pants with a picture of the Japanese flag on it for a photoshoot. Bad mistake. China shamed her, threw eggs at her, and relentlessly bashed her on the internet. Poor dear. This was worse than when the Chinese actresses were shamed for being in Memoirs of a Geisha.

I was slightly dissapointed that he didn't visit a McDonald's (only here in China do you see businessmen having lunch meetings at Mickey Dees) or my hometown as we have a good selection of fresh fruit available every day. But we also have people throwing cucumbers out of their 5th story window as a way of saying "Shut up!". And beaches infested with jellyfish. That are later served for dinner.

Overall, this book was amazing, refreshingly honest, and wonderfully written. It's addictive yet light enough that you can let go of the book with only mild efforts and get some sleep.

This book is a brilliant account of an experience of a first time traveler in China. As the two previous books Maarten Troost has published, this book is readable and funny. Maarten's experience traveling throughout China gives on a good understanding of the challenges China is facing in trying to modernize at an accelerated rate. "Modernization at any cost" approach has had dire consequences on the environment and culture. Another interesting observation has been that although the government has good control over what is going on, it does not have total control of every aspect of daily life (the way for example it was in the USSR).
I am sure those who know China well may take up an issue with the author's grim depiction of China. However, the author does not claim to be an expert on China and the book is written from the perspective of an open minded outsider traveling though China for the first time.

Overall... a fun read!

There are very few books on and by queer of color. This book is a very significant anthology that has not been equaled for over 8 years.

This book is an amazing and masterful piece of work. Due to the significant lack of material pertaining to the South Asian Diasporic LBGTQ community one can easily see the relevence and necessity for such a publication. Personal, provacative, critical, analytical, cross-cultural, and ethnically specific are keywords that come to mind in reviewing this title. Highly recommended for any LBGTQ person regardless of ethnicity. A useful resource for any student pursuing academic studies in Queer Studies or South Asian Studies. As relevent today as it was when it was first published!

The South Asian lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender movement has come a long way since 1993, but Ratti's book is still a primary source of information on the subject and hence a milestone for the movement. The chapters are highly variable in quality but are all eminently readable. Readers are strongly urged to check out www.trikone.org and the khush listserv to see where the desi queer movement is heading these days.

This is an extremely important collection of works on gay and lesbian themes from South Asia for two reasons. Firstly, the genres are authentic, and not filtered through the lenses of Western scholars. Secondly, it successfully relates the context in which homosexual identity is constructed in South Asia. It also has some useful historical essays, and great poetry. A must read for ANY student interested in South Asian gay and lesbian culture.

This is a book to dive into, and lose yourself for days. Madame Chiang Kai-Shek is that good a story, and this is that good an account of her life. Madame Chiang used her political cunning and legendary drive to seduce supporters to her side of China's epic civil war during the middle part of the 20th century.

The Nationalist regime, headed by her husband, was hated by the Chinese people for its notorious brutality and corruption. But as portrayed by Madame Chiang, especially to American audiences, Chiang Kai-shek's government was a modern, educated bulwark of democracy and freedom for a country whose history had allowed little of either. Indeed, Madame Chiang personified the vaunted hopes, bitter disappointments and complex misunderstandings of the U.S.-China relationship, which vacillated wildly during her exceptional 105-year lifetime. Laura Tyson Li's incisive new biography, rises to the tall task of capturing this pivotal figure in all her splendor and humiliation, against a backdrop of war, revolution and unending political turmoil. Li, a journalist with a decade of experience in Asia, accurately portrays her as "beautiful, vain, witty, spirited, capricious, scheming, selfish, and driven."

What a character. What a tale.

The book opens in the waning days of China's second-to-last emperor in the late 1890s, when Mayling Olive Soong was born in Shanghai, the youngest daughter of a businessman who had made a fortune selling Bibles and presided over a family of savvy, idealistic and recklessly ambitious children. One married Sun Yat-sen, China's first president. Another became finance minister and acting prime minister of Nationalist China. Another became one of China's richest women. Mayling became Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

In an era when few girls learned to read and fewer traveled, Mayling was schooled in Georgia, then graduated from Wellesley College, where she excelled at French, violin and religious studies. She returned to Shanghai in 1917 just as China lurched into a bloody warlord period, and soon she was courted by the most severe warlord of all, Chiang Kai-shek. He divorced one wife and sent another off to Columbia University before Mayling agreed to marry him.

During World War II, Madame Chiang became a superb envoy to the United States, where her address to Congress in 1943 thrilled Washington, and her barnstorming across the country won renewed support and money to defeat the Japanese. In China, she was a poised partner to her husband, softening his imperiousness while sharpening his political machinations.

In Li's telling, husband and wife (who shared a bedroom with a screen separating their beds) could not have differed more. He was an early riser; she stayed up late watching movies. He was ascetic; she insisted on luxury. Still, they called each other 'Dar' (short for 'darling') and for years collaborated to cement fragile political alliances and keep a shaky hold on power.

The book has delicious tidbits, such as an affair with Republican presidential nominee Wendell Wilkie and her insistence on getting silk sheets when she stayed in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's White House.

Overall, Li delivers a thoughtful portrait of a complex woman and resists the considerable temptation to crucify her. That is a refreshing contrast to the shock-and-awe approach seen in so many recent books on prominent figures in China's recent history. Li deconstructs critical historical events with skill: the Xian Incident, when Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by rebellious generals; the 50-year house-arrest of the leading kidnapper, with whom Madame Chiang developed a curious friendship; Madame Chiang's mysterious disappearances for months at a time, caused, Li thinks by physical and mental illnesses, including debilitating hives, breast cancer and nervous breakdown.

More reporter than writer, Li assiduously draws on Madame Chiang's extensive personal correspondence, from archives around the world, to explain each stage of her drama. It's a spellbinding period of history. And it does not end well for the Chiangs. The Nationalist regime crumbled to the Communists in 1949. The Chiangs fled to Taiwan, admitting no fault, but blamed President Truman and vowed to retake the mainland. That dream faded gradually after Chiang Kai-shek died in 1975.

Madame Chiang's antagonistic stepson, Chiang Ching-kuo, would oversee a murderous suppression of dissidents as head of Taiwan's intelligence network. Paradoxically, as president, he later paved the way for the launch of Taiwan's democracy just before his death in 1988. That year, at age 90, she tried to rally Taiwan's Old Guard and prevent the onset of democracy she once spoke of so often. She failed.

Madame Chiang lived out her days in New York, watching China and Taiwan as one became capitalist and the other became a democracy. Despite her illnesses, she lived until 2003.

Ultimately, Madame Chiang was "a deeply flawed heroine," Li writes, "that rare creature who stuck resolutely to her beliefs, however misguided some of them may have been, through the decades and the trials."

Reading "Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady" was like going through everything in the attic and leaving nothing unexamined. Tyson-Li covers every aspect of Madame Chiang's life without ever letting us forget that life's relevance for today. The "Dragon Lady's" significance never disappears in the wealth of the personal, historical, political, psychological, medical, and religious dimensions of her complex life. Her fanatical anti-Communism calls to mind Richard Nixon's personal crusade. Her use of religion to define her and her husband's sense of destiny parallels certain leaders who employ religious language for similar ends. Her manipulation of people and events exceeds the ambitions of any demagogue who has come to believe his or her own public statements.

All this and more the author achieves with vivid prose that takes you into private parlors where Madame Chiang herself has invited you to tea, but leaves you feeling that just maybe everything you've heard is really true and that your hostess is neither monster nor statesman, but an enigmatic individual using the world as a stage to work out her insecurities.

It's surprising to note that this is the first biography of one of the most politically influential women of modern times, but MADAME CHIANG KAI-SHEK: CHINA'S ETERNAL FIRST LADY remains the only title to provide the complete story of a woman who seized unofficial and official power during China's civil war. Her position against Chinese Communism and her diplomatic relations affected decades of Chinese-American relations, so this book is key to a thorough understanding of not just the woman, but Chinese politics and influences in particular.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Laura Tyson Li has assembled a spectacular bio. It's page turner with the authority and detail of an encyclopedia. LTL has managed to keep her opinions out of the text. It isn't until the last chapter when through an informed discussion on the Madame's possible motivations that LTL becomes subjective.

While almost every aspect of this life is intriguing, certain people and episodes stand out. I had forgotten Zhang Xueliang until he emerged after a 50 year house arrest, after which he & his wife move to Hawaii. Apparently he was able to keep his pre-war fortune, or had been cared for financially; he is deemed a friend of the Madame. (Another 5 year house arrest of a physician who botches an operation of the General suggests house arrest is a common punishment for "friends" and other professionals.) Madame's war time US appeal for funds, with its cross country caravan of staff whom MCKS treats "as coolies" is certainly an episode worth a small volume. (The $800,000 she raises goes to her personal account.) While the Wendel Wilkie relationship (true or false) is intriguing, I fixed on the William H. Donald relationship, which may have been a professional friendship and refuge from her husband's authoritarianism, but her end of life treatment of him suggests something else.

There are a host of issues worthy of their own books. Perhaps these books exist but I don't know about them. One issue is the "arrival" of 2 million mainlanders to the island of Formosa, who's 7 million citizens seemed to have some degree of prosperity under the Japanese. While the Chaings arrive with resources, others huddle in makeshift places and cry at night. "Invasion" appears to be a better word for this arrival (particularly after 2/28), but it is certainly not portrayed as such (or allowed to be portrayed as such) by the Nationalists who felt entitled to rule and had the resources to make it so. Even later, Madame objects to the appointment of Taiwanese to government posts.

Another issue deserving its own book is Madame's money. Whether or not the NYC exterminators actually saw it, a closet of gold bars is not far fetched. For maybe 30 years, Madame's "charity" received a % of all imports to Taiwan. There were several "vacation" homes in Taiwan, one built at a cost of $2 million. Then, the resources brought from the mainland to Taiwan. This money provided Madame with luxury and a large staff until her death. How large was it? How was it acquired (any from the US war assistance?) and where did it go?

MCKS can be noted for her longevity alone. There must be something Guinness-worthy about her survival despite many years in a war zone, continued medical treatments, operations including several for breast cancer, nervous afflictions, a late in life automobile accident, lifelong cigarette smoking (and potential drug abuse) and at least one assassination attempt. Any one of these factors would tend to predict an early demise, not a life of 103 years.

If you read this book, it's riveting, so be prepared to give it time. Also, the level of detail might make continuity difficult if you have to make gaps in your reading time.

Meet one of the most gallant warriors of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. This biography depicts ARVN Major General Hieu under different facets: his personal life, his military career, his military exploits, and his unjust death. It reveals General Hieu as an unsung hero, whose tactical and strategic skills put him among the best soldiers of modern times, at par with General Rommel of Germany, Patton of the United States, Montgomery of England and Leclerc of France.

The Internet format of this biography has received wide acceptance from its readers with more than 20,000 visitors the first year. One reader comments, "Besides its military historical value, it has room for deep, emotional feelings," and another reader writes, "Of all the military stories I have read, yours is the most touching. What a fine officer General Hieu must have been, so very much an all around person. I did not know him. But I am sure glad I have read about him; it seems as if he comes alive again through your stories, and once again he is an inspiring figure, as his modesty transcends the years," Vietnam War Veterans have found it "fascinating", "incredibly factual," "exceptionally superior," and something that "may well be required reading in high schools, military college..."

Containing first hand military documents pertaining to operational orders, it provides a rare presentation for ordinary people; one is allowed to see how a divisional commanding general plans and executes his battles. The story of an individual life, this biography offers an illuminating insight of the ARVN and provides a unique perspective of the Vietnam War.

This book gives answers to the following questions:

- The NVA has General Vo Nguyen Giap. Does the ARVN have someone comparable?

- How did General Hieu score next to General John Norton, Jr of the US 1st Cavalry Division?

- How did General Hieu score next to General Albert Milloy of the US 1st Infantry Division?

- What did General Dennis McAuliffe of the US Big Red One Division think about General Hieu?

- How did Colonel John Hayes, Senior Advisor of ARVN 5th Division, evaluate General Hieu?

- How did the ARVN 22nd Division score next to the US 1st Cavalry Division?

- How did the ARVN 5th Division score next to the US 1st Infantry Division?

- What role did General Hieu play in the Ia Drang Valley Battle (US 1st Cavalry Division), Pershing Operation (US 1st Cavalry Division), Dong Tien Operations (US 1st Infantry Division), Total Victory 46 Operation (US 1st Cavalry Division)?

- How did the ARVN Airborne Division score next to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade and the US 101st Airborne Division?

- etc...

This biography, a reader would notice at the outset, is not written by a historian, an investigative reporter, or a professional biographer. It originates instead from the pen of a younger sibling seeking to resolve the mystery surrounding his brother's untimely death. This legitimate curiosity has evolved into a collection of articles depicting General Nguyen van Hieu as a family man, a patriot, a military strategist, and a man of integrity. This collection of articles authored by siblings, friends, and fellow military men unexpectedly converges to project a dynamic image of an intelligent soldier and brilliant strategist engaged in the twofold quixotic task of overcoming a corrupted military hierarchy and fighting the invading North Vietnamese communist army. The book presents the reader with glimpses of a man living the yin aspect of the Vietnamese society (egalitarian, flexible, spiritual, congenial) and, at the same time, confronting the yang aspect of the neo-Confucianist military and government hierarchy (male dominant, rigid, self-serving, elitist, concerned with face and status). Without any claim to being systematic or thorough in his research, the author has nevertheless gathered a number of revealing personal anecdotes, testimonies from living witnesses, declassified documents from the National Archives, letters from former military academy classmates, phone interviews, excerpts from books, and so forth. From this cacophony of voices emerges the image of a virtuous man, caring father, loving spouse, and competent general respected by Vietnamese and American military personnel of all ranks. The reader would no doubt be surprised to discover this unsung hero in the stark background of negative memories of the Vietnam War and betrayal of the Vietnamese people by the neo-Confucianist military and government hierarchy. Though modest in its presentation, the book manages to do justice to a dedicated soldier and competent general, who is mostly unknown to both the Vietnamese and the American public. After reading this fascinating biography, the reader comes away wondering what might have been had this uncommon general, who epitomized the true Vietnamese people, been allowed to fully exercise his military competence.END

This biography, a reader would notice at the outset, is not written by a historian, an investigative reporter, or a professional biographer. It originated instead from the pen of a younger sibling seeking to resolve the mystery surrounding his brother's untimely death. This legitimate curiosity has evolved into a collection of articles depicting General Nguyen van Hieu as a family man, a patriot, a military strategist, and a man of integrity.

This collection of articles authored by siblings, friends, and fellow military men unexpectedly converges to project a dynamic image of an intelligent soldier and brilliant strategist engaged in the twofold unenviable task of overcoming a corrupted military hierarchy and fighting the invading North Vietnamese communist army.

The book presents the reader with glimpses of a man living the yin aspect of the Vietnamese society (egalitarian, flexible, spiritual, congenial) and, at the same time, confronting the yang aspect of the neo-Confucianist military and government hierarchy (male dominant, rigid, self-serving, elitist, concerned with face and status).

Without any claim to being systematic or thorough in his research, the author has nevertheless gathered a number of revealing personal anecdotes, testimonies from living witnesses, declassified documents from the National Archives, letters from former military academy classmates, phone interviews, excerpts from books, and so forth. From this cacophony of voices emerges the image of a virtuous man, caring father, loving spouse, and competent general respected by Vietnamese and American military personnel of all ranks. The reader would no doubt be surprised to discover this unsung hero in the stark background of negative memories of the Vietnam War and betrayal of the Vietnamese people by the neo-Confucianist military and government hierarchy.

Though modest in its presentation, the book manages to do justice to a dedicated soldier and competent general, who is mostly unknown to both the Vietnamese and the American public. After reading this fascinating biography, the reader comes away wondering what might have been had this uncommon general, who epitomized the true Vietnamese people, been allowed to fully exercise his military competence.

(P.S. Please use this book review instead of the earlier version I sent to Amazon.com this morning. Thank you. Tri V. Nguyen)

This text presents and illuminating perspective into the highest Vietnamese traditions, and is a fitting posthumous tribute to a ranking member of South Viet Nam's highest military cadres. Written as a sibbling biography, it is richly peppered throughout with mild bias, something freely acknowledged by the author, which nevertheless does not detract from the wealth of objective information, and data that are only enriched by a personal, if family-oriented point of view. This book extolls the virtue of Vietnamese tradition with the highest esteem, as exemplified in this in-depth analysis of one man's contributions to his motherland, set against the backdrop of one of southeast Asia's most tragic and sad chapters in history. Factual information is well presented with adequate supporting documentation and numerous pictures give this historical personage a very vivid and intimate familiarity. The details of some of the information presented can be simultaneously revealing and startling. This book is well-balanced in the extremes: One man's virtues and rapid progression through the military ranks being consistently contrasted with the insidious prevalence or corruption or corrupt practices by the government which he is sworn to protect and defend. The admiration of the author for the Major General lies in stark contrast to the shameful behaviors of so many government officials at all levels, including the presidency, which must bear the brunt of the responsibililty for the eventual downfall of the government of the Republic of Viet Nam. "I am only the instrument of my brother. General Hieu's biography is a self-expression ... General Hieu drew a clear-cut line between the two military and private life areas. This explains why he was able to maintain his integrity and virtue while working with other corrupt and low-moral generals ... The majestic aura that soldiers perceived in General Hieu's personality came from his inner strength, not from an artificial majesty requiring the use of a general's baton, or a combat camouflaged outfit, or a cigar, or an imposing guard detail, etc... And thus they genuinely respected and loved him dearly ..." General Hieu was assassinated in his office headquarters on 8 April 1975. Except in the fact that he was shot to death, official reports and eyewitness testimony remain internally contradictory. by: Dr Michael JM Raffin 1st. Brigade, 5th. Infantry Division (Mechanized) Province of Quang Tri, Viet Nam July, 1968 to March 1969