Washington Books

Vice Premier Qian's Son Writes Book on the Experience of Chinese Students in the United States
A February 1997 report from U.S. Embassy Beijing

Summary. Chinese Foreign Minister Qian's son, Qian Ning, has written a best-selling book about his impressions of life as a student in the United States. Qian wrote his book upon his
return to China after studying journalism and Chinese literature for five years at the University of Michigan. Studying in America, now a runaway best-seller in both legal and pirated editions, reflects the Qian Ning's very deep and fair-minded assessment of China, America and their relations. Far deeper and much more sophisticated than the recent wave
of shallow, America bashing best-sellers, Qian's book is imbued with Chinese patriotism with a clear-eyed and fair-minded view of the good and the bad of Chinese and American society and traditions. Although only a small percentage of the Chinese students who went to the United States over the last fifteen years have returned to China, more and more are choosing to come back as economic conditions improve and political controls loosen.

The importance of this book is that it affords a vision of the U.S. as it is reflected in the Chinese mind and a vision of China through Chinese minds which have been profoundly transformed by their American experience. In this cable we present Embassy Beijing Environment Science and Technology Section officer's extensive summary of Qian's work
with page numbers from the first edition which also hold for the numerous pirate editions sold. End summary.

The full review is available on the U.S. Embassy Beijing web page at ...

Chinese Students Encounter America is really a treasure. The anecdotes of foreign students as they experience, confront, and cope with education and life in America are priceless. The translation is very well-done. For those who are interested in Chinese-American relations, modern Chinese history, or the foreign student experience in America, this is a very interesting and unique vantage point.

Very little in our high school or college histories prepares us for the Washington we encounter in these pages. The roles of revolutionary warrior and first president have been reprised often in other countries so we are now over-familiar with someone being called 'the George Washington of someplace or other'.
Wills points out that Washington, by force of his personality and integrity came to stand for the American people and republic before the existence of either was widely acknowledged. Washington was a hero, but he was a hero in times that had a very different idea of what heroism was. Wills' job in this book is to recreate the perspective of the enlightenment and then let us see Washington through that perspective in three great moments of his career. Interestingly, two of these moments-his resignation as Commander of the Army and surrender of the presidency in his farewell address involve the relinquishment of power. The third, his lending his name and prestige to the Constitutional Convention involved the risk of ruining his reputation.
How the Age of the Enlightenment set the stage and how Washington and his contemporaries used that stage is a story that's both fascinating and humbling.

On a less elevated note, both my copy and one at the Philadelphia Free Library are missing pages 183-198. I hope that when this book is reprinted, they will be restored.

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel and New Short Course in Wine,The

In this magnificent book, Garry Wills presents a shrewd, learned analysis of the reasons for George Washington's central role in the American Revolution and the creation of the American Republic. Far better than Joseph Ellis's HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON, this fine book examines the three critical episodes in Washington's public life -- his resignation in 1783, at the Revolution's close, as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army; his role in the framing and adoption and effectuation of the Constitution; and his decision to retire from the Presidency after two terms of office. Washington was, as Wills calls him, a virtuoso of resignation, and Wills's fine book explains why. It should be restored to print.

A wonderfully distressful novel! Mary takes you to many complex levels that are part of the experience of being human. This book will not only force you to look at the complex prejudice and discrimination issues in our culture, but will expose parts of your own heart you may not want to see. The characters become vivid and alive and you will miss them for days after the last page has been turned. Kudos! to Mary Anderson Parks. Please don't make us wait to long for your next book. Yes, please do write a sequel and let us know about Sky and Katherine.

Mary Parks has created a character who is believable and real. She makes choices by intuition to preserve her family and herself by returning to her home on the reservation. After making the choice to be there, she makes the best of her difficult relationship with her mother and the man she gets too involved with. This character stayed with me for days as I read her search for herself and her ability to make wrong choice yet not be devastated by these mistakes. I liked her courage and her inner solidity as she makes her way into a new life. The themes of interracial marriage and raising children in a sometimes hostile world are intriguing and touch us as the sturggles of many women in the 90s.

This is a very readable and extensively researched look at the trees of Washington D.C. It's an excellent field guide for identifying trees, but the thing I like most about it is that it tells the fascinating stories behind so many of the trees planted in D.C. If you live near D.C. and have even a mild interest in its history, I strongly recommend this book!

I originally bought Melanie Choukas-Bradley's CITY OF TREES in its hardcover coffee-table edition and have followed its evolution since. As a Washingtonian of some thirty years' standing, I was originally unaware that this beautiful city was ever known as the City of Trees, but now that I've read Melanie's book, I've looked at the city through different eyes. Though the cherry blossoms are the best-known trees of the city, there's so much more, from the sights in every neighborhood through the rich diversity of our parks. DC is a beautiful city, and there's not nearly enough in print to show and share that beauty. Get this book.

This is a great read for any DC resident; the pictures will certainly delight and amuse and educate!

Having just moved to the area, it's nice to have a little history lesson. The photos are incredible. Things have changed in our neighborhood. Anyone native of DC will love this book and any from the IMAGES of AMERICA series.

A tale of woe, with twins seperated at birth, children lost to their parents and a man whose life is sacrifice unless he can pay an enormous debt. And that is just the first scenes.

Then, you dive head first into broad slapstick and grand comedy. One twin is a married bawd, the other is a mostly honorable bachelor. The wrong master addresses the wrong servant, the wife gets mad at the wrong twin, and everyone thinks everyone else has lost their minds. Grand fun all around, and an inspiration for every comic troupe to follow (including the Marx brothers, Peter Sellers, and Disney in several manifestations).

Shakespearean comedy at its best!

E.M. Van Court

Along with "Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Comedy of Errors" remains my favorite comedy to this day. While this is a hilarious play, the story actually starts quite sad. A merchant from Syracuse named Egeon is illegally in Ephesus, and will be executed unless he can come up with 1,000 marks. He appeals to the duke and explains that he has been separated from his wife, his 2 (identical twins-Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse) sons, and their 2 (identical twins Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse) servants. Yes, it does pass plausibility that the twins would have identical names, but the confusion to come can only occur if their names are identical. So, we have to be willing to forgive this for the sake of the play's comedy to come. The duke is moved into sympathy and gives him the day to come up with 1,000 marks. Some people feel this sad scene does not belong, but I can not agree. One, it sets the mood, and two, a little bit of sadness prevents a comedy from becoming an utter farce. Also, despite the comedy of the future acts, we don't really forget this serious situation at hand, and as we enjoy the comedy, we still are in suspense as to what will happen to Egeon. Well, in comes Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse. And we learn that Egeon was speaking of them. (Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse grew up with Egeon, and thus know him, but Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus never knew their father or brothers for that matter.) What makes this comedy so wonderful is that not only does Shakespeare maintain the comical aspects of it, but he gradually increases the tension. At first, the 'errors' only lead to private and comical misunderstandings. But later, more outside parties get involved as both Antipholuses and Dromios are mistaken for their twins. Later, Antipholus of Ephesus suspects that his wife is having an affair. (And in my opinion, he had stronger grounds for suspecting this than the so called noble Othello. After all, poor Antipholus of Ephesus was locked out of his own house! And through a closed door, his wife told him to go away!) Soon, the errors lead to Antipholus of Ephesus and his friend Angelo getting arrested. And by the end of the 4th act, the confusion and errors have gotten so intense and out of hand that several characters in the play are angry at each other, and not one or two, but SEVERAL of the characters are in danger of being physically hurt. But leave it to Shakespeare to resolve everything just in time and give us a happy ending with all the characters enjoying a merry feast! Perhaps the greatest thing about this story is that there are no villains and there is no intentional deception. (Just a lot of misunderstandings.) And perhaps Shakespeare is telling us that many of our conflicts in life are due to misunderstandings.

This isn't normally the kind of book I read because I never went to Georgetown Law School, I'm not involved in the construction field, and have an aversion to legal matters but the author has been a friend for over 35 years. So I was very surprised to find myself eagerly reading the book because of all the historical tidbits he interspersed with notes on the progress of the building. As a resident of Washington DC since 1968, I was thrilled to learn some little known facts about the city (at least to me) which Wally wrote about so wonderfully. It is remarkable the way he juxtaposed those facts with basic information on the status of the new building. It's a pleasure to know that in addition to all his other fine qualities, he is a good writer. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about Washington DC or Georgetown Law School.

I have been following Mlyniec's work for over thirty five years. Most of his writng has distilled around the constellation of issues having to do with juvenile justice. So, it is with some pleasure that we find Mlyniec delving into the history of building materials and passing along stories of an old neighborhood as it returns to its place in historic Washington.

For many in the criminal justice field the email has become a weapon to be used in the tug of war between prosecution and defense. Here we find a whole series of emails now tranformed into a charming adventure in building as Dean Mlyniec attempts to keep student and professor and the campus in general apace with the development of the new Law Center. And he succeeds wildly.

This three part history of the building of the Georgetown Law Center and its surrounding neighborhood and the building materials that constitute its makeup are a wonderful read told by a natural storyteller. We can only hope that his next project will focus on his beloved Chicago Cubs.

I stumbled on The Convict Cookbook while writing my latest caper novel, ONCE A THIEF (May '06). As its plot stars 3 elderly paroled bank robbers, it was flat-out neat to refer to my character, Melba Jane Dillinger, winning blue ribbons for her Goozly Pie and TaterTot Casserole as an evening's dinner entre. Hats off to Washington State Prison in Walla Walla for sponsoring this project and to all the contributors who shared their recipes, artwork and personal reflections. Suzann Ledbetter

Keen, insightful, eye-opening, witty, and all for a good cause. It might be a simple cookbook, but the real value here is in the prisoners' first hand accounts of culinary innovation in their cells. Recommended for anyone with an interest in prisons, criminal justice, or quick, cheap eats.

As a child (45-50 years ago), I read this book while visiting my Grandmother on the Yakama Indian Reservation. Reading the book again reminded me that cultural stories have a theme and thought pattern to them that includes common sense. In other words, that we now know that Coyote is not the supreme ruler of the animal world does not diminish the lessons that each story contains. A simple, excellent work that will acquaint even the most intellectual person with a world some say no longer exists.

Mourning Dove, (Hu-mis-hu-ma) is the pen name of Christine Quintasket, a member of the Colville Reservation of north central Washington. She had little schooling and even less exposure to literature, however she was determined to be a writer of fiction, particularly in her collections of Native American folk lores. She sought out the aged members of the communities near her home and carefully wrote the stories and legends she heard. Mourning Dove thought it was important to write down these stories, which, up to that time, were mostly oral history, because she feared that each story and tradition would be lost as members moved away from the tribe and into western or white civilizations. While the stories of Coyote, (the coyote represented that irrepressible joker and alternate savior of many tribes) as recorded here, have been "santitized" since Mourning Dove thought they were too "ugly" to write about. Coyote is shown in this book at his best and his worst with special powers to summon help for people when needed. He is earthy and greedy, and filled with gluttony and lust. As a precaution, Coyote was given a kinsman to deter him, a Fox, who was able to restore life. Mourning Dove leaves behind the stories she heard around many a cold evening or near a council fire. This book is edited and illustrated by Heister Dean Guie with notes by L.V. McWhorter (Old Wolf) and a foreword by Chief Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux. First published in 1934, this book harks back to time when Native American civilization still had some of their stories left to tell and is vital to read because of the time period in which it was written. This book is often considered "required reading" in some college classes which are enlightened about the value of Native American stories. Let us hope many more will take the time to review these stories in light of their own stories.

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This was bought for a family member whose family had ties in Louisiana. She loved it. She already has several of Cable's books and was happy to get this one.

This is a fantastic book on Creoles, it is well researched and very enlightening. The word Creole means the original European natives of New Orleans, NOT light skinned African Americans, now I'm sure many light skinned blacks from New Orleans has Creole ancestry. The word has been eroneously used, when I tell people that my grandmother was of Creole and Austrian ancestry, they are like, wow, I did not know you were black..im like, uh, im not black, it's so annoying, and the media perpetuates the idea, that the word means any light skinned black person from Louisiana. Everyone in Louisiana should have to read this book in history class, then they could get educated on the word, and spread the information the the obtuse media. Highly recommended.