Mary Chan was born in 1950 in the Portuguese colony of Macau to a very poor family of boat dwellers. The family were not English speakers and yet Mary became fluent in the language to the extent that she was able to write her auto-biography and travel internationally as an inspiration to others more fortunate. Whilst cursed with a spinal deformity and near blindness from soon after birth she was blessed with a healthy brain. She exploited that major asset as perhaps only someone so physically handicapped could.

The tale is told in simple English and is a basic chronology of her lifetime with a lot of family history. Father Edward, an Irish priest, enters her life at the age of 5 soon after the family moves to Hong Kong where their fishing boat is permanently moored in Aberdeen harbour. Father Edward becomes a "guardian angel'' to Mary and dramatically changes the course of her life for the better. Whilst her eyesight is beyond repair - even her grandmother's traditional Chinese treatment of rubbing incense ash and mud into them didn't work - there is a ray of hope that her hunched back can at least be straightened a little.

Mary wins a place at a Catholic girls school where her hard work studying English pays off with excellent results, even mastering Braille in English and Chinese. She finishes college and finds work sewing soft toys. Despite the difficulty of commuting as a blind person to her work place (how do you cross Hong Kong's dangerous roads safely and how do you know what route number the approaching bus is displaying?) she is feeling a degree of independence. Now aged 21 Mary is admitted to The Duchess of Kent Children's hospital to undergo spinal surgery, thanks again to Father Edward's influence in these matters. After painful surgery and nearly a year in hospital with her spine in halo-pelvic traction, her body held rigid with steel rods pinned into her shoulders and thighs, and even her head held in a metal frame, she emerges with her deformity almost cured. This high point in her life is destined to be short lived as at the age of 27 a viral infection paralyses her from the waist down committing her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. It is hard to imagine how challenging every apparently simple task can be when one is so handicapped. At one stage her wheel chair is rolling down a gentle tarmac slope with her feet being badly gouged as they drag on the ground caught below the footrests. Of course, she had no way to notice.

Her adult life is a triumph of determination and will power over the challenges posed by her handicaps. Mind over matter, she wins the battle with the trip of a life time pilgrimage to Lourdes followed by other exciting and mind opening overseas trips. Mary tells her tale eloquently and simply without attempting to exploit the reader's sympathy for her plight. It is a wonderful story. It is also one that will make any able-bodied person realise how fortunate he or she is.

Walter Benjamin's "the object IS the theory" certainly complies with this marvellous book. Lots of pics and intelligent texts make a very important catalogue of new insights in art history. Although art historians know lots of the depicted art works already, this book re-orders them in quite a startling and refreshing way, telling the story of early modern art in a very concrete and no-nonsense, but richly articulated way. Wonderful imaginative associations with the classic moderns we all had are now elevated in this new canon. The theories on which this catalogue are based are simple and instructive, enlightening.

This is a great little book, even if you think you'll never need it. It's a gentle way to cover some difficult topics with your kids, open a dialogue, and begin to teach them tolerance and the joys of diversity. Although in some ways it may seem geared more towards a "W.A.S.P." audience, I think it could easily serve people from all cultures as a reminder that for diversity to work, acceptance must begin with all directions. I also think the adults reading this book will be reminded what kinds of innocent remarks a child will make that they haven't even thought could come up, so topics can be brought up in an easy and logical fashion. Anyway, it's a great little book, and I recommend it to all.

Using masterworks and many artistic media to explore how the body speaks to viewers is a unique way to understand body language. The reader is gently coaxed to see emotional states and sympathize with them. Gradually he becomes aware of what in the work evokes these responses.

Faces, gestures, posture, pairs, and groups are organized for comparison. Some are analyzed, and others are left for the reader to ponder.

This is a source for artists, students of communication, and anyone in the general public wishing to increase his awareness of human communication.