As a former student of Ms.Yu's, I can say with absolute conviction that she is a truly remarkable and brilliant woman. Her journal, "Hungry Lighting", is typical of her tremendous ability as a first rate writer and story-teller. The passion with which she writes, to bring to life her Pume Indians, is contageous and begs the reader to continue their arm-chair journey into the lives of these remarkable people. Ms.Yu's easy style, gorgeous prose and personal accounts are captivating, exciting and truly heart-felt. Her adventures are nothing short of thrilling. This book is an absolute must for anyone who wishes to step, even if for a few precious hours, into the amazingly complex, always on the edge world of Pei-Lin Yu and the Pume Indians.

Pei-Lin Yu has done a wonderful job with this book and study of the threatened Pume of Venezuela. I, too, was assigned this book for an anthropology course and was not looking forward to it. I was expecting another dry, pompous read from some aging professor in Ohio, but instead I got a fascinating look at a culture I was completely unaware of. Yu makes you care for these South American Indians the way you care for your favorite characters in a novel -- actually, this field journal reads more like a novel than what is truly is. It is a true page-turner, with vivid descriptions, great illustrations by the author throughout, and an interesting and gripping plot (I use "plot" for lack of a better word -- the book is all true). If you enjoy reading -- anything -- you will love this book. It transcends a genre and is accessible and enjoyable to all. P.S. The professor (Ben Passmore) whose course I read this for is actually one of Pei-Lin's colleagues at SMU and says she is a wonderful, intelligent woman, and though I have yet to meet her, her work would lead me to believe the same.

Reading Hungry Lightning for an intro anthropology class, I groaned at having to plow through another boring account of some ancient culture's way of life. But then I opened the book, and entered a whole new world -- the world of the Pume. Vivid descriptions make their world come to life, and the reader is able to learn about their culture - and thereby extrapolate how other hunter-gather cultures would have lived millions of years ago. In addition, we see this culture from a female point of view, something lacking in many anthroppological studies. I would recommend this book to anyone - not just someone studying anthropology. This book enables someone to step back in time - and then realize that this culture still exists TODAY...and realize that without our help, this beautiful culture might disappear along with all the others that have preceeded it.

This was my first book I have read which is a narrative on what it is like to cruise for years in the Mediterranean on a 24 foot sail boat. I am planning on a 3 month cruise in the summer of 2002 and wanted info on what it is like. The Authors had a good mix of experiences from Lessons-learned, weather/seas in the Western/Central Med, and alot of good narrative about the people they meant in a variety of ports. It was just what I wanted to understand what the experience is like. I was a little disapointed when the book stopped short of the Greek Island which is where I am planning on going. Over all, if you are thinking of cruising and want a little feel of it with out ocean spray, this is the book for you...

This is the third book of the Pardey's four book Seraffyn series. Once you start them, it's hard to put them down. Lin Pardey has an easy, comfortable, writing style. One is really pulled into their travels.

I thought the book was well written even for someone that has never sailed. The book made me want to learn to sail and look for adventure like the Pardys. My only question would be if it would be the same sailing throught the Med sea today. i hope so!!!! I went out and ordered more of there books right way and I can't to explore with them again!!!!!

This book is really a tear-jerker. Don't read it if you are squeamish. The horrific tales of life on the turkey farm will make you a vegetarian for sure, and probably against capital punishment. I worked on a dairy farm one summer and know that farms are cruel places though the turkey stories were disgusting. One thing I really admired was how Jensen made me feel sympathy for his dying father. Actually, what really got me was the story of how his father, as a young man, tested a Percheron horse by taking him into deep water. The beautiful symbolism of this act is just breathtaking. It was the high point of the book. So all in all, the structure of the book -- its interweaving of three separate strands (the turkey farm, his father, his own life) -- plus the amazingly deep and profound content make this a stunning must-read book. But read it in private so you can cry your eyes out without anybody seeing you and wondering if you are psycho. You'll need lots of tissues to make it through this short tome!

Lin Jensen is an amazing author who keeps you reading through both tears and laughter. He speaks to the reader in simple terms, of simple events. These are events that most would easily pass by, but Lin Jensen leaves you no escape from their gritty reality. He never demands that you change because of his writing. Instead the situations he shows you leave you with no room to conscionably not be changed by them.

I have read the book five times now, setting aside several others I had been "dying" to read. Twice, I have read it aloud to myself, which felt kinda silly at first. The only reason I stopped reading it was to lend it out.

Lin Jensen's book is not one you will want to rush through. It is a series of personal reflections on the ordinary events of life, rendered extraordinary by the author's flawlessly simple style, impeccable self-examination, compassion for human failing and eye for the magical hidden in the everyday. Handsomely designed and beautifully edited, you will want to give it to everyone you care about deeply.

This is one of the best books you will buy as a medical student or intern. It is a requirement for your pocket. At Barnes-Jewish Hospital they give this to all the interns in July. If you know read it a couple times it will make internship easy...except for the 100 hours a week you will put into the job...Honestly...BUY IT- I would have bought it in medical school if I knew about it.

Buy this book if you are a fourth year medical student or intern

I wish I had had this book as an intern. It's a concise, pocket-sized guide covering the essential need-to-know information for interns. I especially liked the sections on cross cover, triage, and internet resources.

A must have for soon-to-be interns.

Great book! Very well written. The situations are depressing but the dialogue is so snappy and witty that the book is almost a quasi comedy. I love how it moves away from the typical Asian American immigrant story to something darker and is definitely more sexually explicit than most books in the same genre.
This book has universal appeal. It's not just an Asian American book nor a minority experience book. There's a part of the book that speaks to all of us.

The nameless narrator of this short novel is a twelve-year old Chinese-American boy who is struggling to grow up and finish school, while working in the decrepit seaside motel run by his parents. The motel is a dingy and depressing place, catering to transients and the down-and-out. Our narrator attends school and works at the motel and dreams of having his first sexual experience.

Not a novel of complex ideas but of sad and desperate yearnings. Things get worse when the young man's father has a stroke, and the little family is no longer able to maintain the business. What will happen to them now?

Despite its dreary theme, the book is endearingly funny, with snappy dialogue, and unexpected tragicomic scenes. It paints a searing picture of loneliness, struggle, and alientation--the American dream's dark side. It is well written and well worth reading. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber

This is a terrific first novel that hits all the great themes: struggle for identity, sexual discovery, and the tension between familial duty and rebellion. Waylaid is good, simple story telling that is steadily entertaining while also enlightening. Congratulations to Ed Lin, who I'd never heard of before but who I look forward to reading again. This book deserves more notice than it has received.

It can only be guessed at why this book was out of print in the US until recently. In it, the reader can discover a charming collection of VERY short stories, which flit from whimsical to mythological, humorous to chilling. All are written in Dunsany's incomparable prose, which ranges from arch first-person narrative to stuff that sounds like embellished mythology.

In this you'll find centaurs, sphinxes, master thieves, about-to-retire pirate chiefs, kings trying to move an emotionless queen to tears, a magical window, a pair of feuding idols, and a delightful story called "Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance." In addition, this new reprint by Wildside Press has a beautiful cover of a young boy on a winged horse.

The stories are a little short -- much shorter than most present-day short fantasy stories -- but they are just amazing. A must-read for immediate suspension of belief.

It can only be guessed at why this book is out of print in the US, though it can be obtained with other Dunsany works from the UK. In it, the reader can discover a charming collection of VERY short stories, which flit from whimsical to mythological, humorous to chilling. All are written in Dunsany's incomparable prose, which ranges from arch first-person narrative to stuff that sounds like embellished mythology.

In this you'll find centaurs, sphinxes, master thieves, about-to-retire pirate chiefs, kings trying to move an emotionless queen to tears, a magical window, a pair of feuding idols, and a delightful story called "Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance." The stories are a little short -- much shorter than most present-day short fantasy stories -- but they are just amazing. A must-read for immediate suspension of belief.

Three tales of famous thieves are part of this collection. _The Book of Wonder_ consists of 14 of Dunsany's short stories (I've sorted them by title rather than order of appearance); it's in print as I write this, as part of the Fantasy Masterworks edition of _Time and the Gods_.

"The Bride of the Man-Horse" - Shepperalk the centaur headed from the first for the city of Zretazoola, though all the mundane plain lay between.

"Chu-bu and Sheemish" - The idol Chu-bu was worshipped alone in his temple for over a hundred years, until the day the priests brought in the upstart idol Sheemish to be worshipped beside him.

"The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap" - When Mr. Shap perceived the beastliness of his occupation as a salesman, he began to venture into the lands of dream and wonder as an escape.

"Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller" - Thangobrind, a master thief operating behind a cover as a jeweller, is offered the soul of a Merchant Prince's daughter in exchange for stealing a diamond from the temple of Hlo-Hlo...

"The Hoard of the Gibbelins" - The Gibbelins maintain their hoard only to attract a continual supply of food...humans...

"The House of the Sphinx" - A visitor chances to come to the House of the Sphinx after a mighty deed has been done, and her servants are in a panic...

"How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles" - Nuth the incomparable is a master thief. "It may be urged against my use of the word incomparable that in the burglary business the name of Slith stands paramount and alone; and of this I am not ignorant; but Slith is a classic, and lived long ago, and knew nothing at all of modern competition..."

"How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never" - "Time had been there, but not to work destruction...by I know not what bribe averted." But not even that Ultimate City is perfect.

"The Injudicious Prayers of Pombo the Idolater" - It is unwise to pray to one idol, only to become impatient and ask another idol to curse the first one; it's against their etiquette....

"The Loot of Bombasharna" - The seas are becoming too hot to hold Captain Shard and the crew of the pirate ship _Desperate Lark_. The sacking of Bombasharna is to be their last hurrah before retirement...

"Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance" - If princesses are in short supply, sometimes a dragon might have to kidnap the daughter of a member of Parliament.

"Probable Adventure of Three Literary Men" - "When the nomads came to El Lola they had no more songs, and the question of stealing the golden box arose in all its magnitude." The legendary thief Slith, along with two assistants because of the weight of the box of poems, are chosen to make the attempt.

"The Quest of the Queen's Tears" - Sylvia, Queen of the Woods, cannot love any of her suitors, but as a compromise, will consent to marry the first man who can move her to tears.

"The Wonderful Window" - The mysterious window was being offered for sale in the streets of London, and its price is all you possess.

My 2 yr old son absolutely loves this book! He can recite every single page!
I grew up speaking Cantonese and I didn't know how to pronounce all the dim sum dishes, but Ms. Lin has helped by listing the most popular dim sum dishes with the English translation and Cantonese pronunciations at the end of the book.
This book also contains very colorful illustrations and a little descriptive history on dim sum.
As for "two shoes", that is what seems to come out of my son's mouth whenever he tries to say "dishes". :)

This book is the perfect introduction to dim sum. If you haven't tried it yet, take this book to a dim sum restaurant and use it to help pick your dishes--if you point to the picture of the dish on the endpapers, the waiters are sure to know what you want! Kids will love it, too. If you extra-daring, try the chicken feet! My favorite dish is the turnip or radish cake.

I love Grace Lin's work--I have all of her books!

Each person in the family picks out something different as the cart with the little dishes comes around in the dim sum restaurant. With a sing-song rhythm, Lin describes the familiar ritual of a family having dim sum together, describing as she does so a bit of Chinese culture. "Little dishes on carts. Little dishes on tables...Everyone eats a little bit of everything." Her illustrations show a table full of brightly colored plates topped with small portions of various foods: fried shrimp, turnip cakes, sweet tofu, and little egg tarts. Ma-Ma, Ba-Ba, and the three daughters wear clothes with intricate patterns, set against a backdrop of swirls. The effect is a rich mesh of textures and a collage of little plates! Lin ends the book simply as she began it with the statement, "Now there are empty little dishes." She includes the history of the dim sum tradition at the end of the book, as well as small pictures of each dim sum dish, labeled in English and Chinese.

Fruit: The Ripe Pick is a superbly presented, pocket-sized guide which describing fifty different kinds of fruit ranging from the ordinary to the exotic. Family cooks and shoppers are provided with time-saving and money-saving techniques for selecting, buying, and storing fruit properly to ensure both great taste and lasting freshness for fruits selected for the dining table and snack menus. Nutritional data, popular varieties, and peak seasons for each fruit are clearly laid out in a text specifically designed for quick access and featuring an easy-to-read, bulleted text. Historical facts and culinary lore on all fifty fruits enhance this lively, practical, "user friendly" guide that both informs and entertains. Fruit: The Ripe Pick is enthusiastically recommended to anyone confronted with the necessity of acquiring fruits from supermarkets to roadside stands.

I have used this book to help me pick, oranges, lemons, limes and other fruits. I have used it to give co-workers tips in selecting their fruit purchases, they are pleased with the results. It teaches you ripening techniques and gives interesting "did you know" tidbits about each fruit. I recommend it to all fruit lovers. It is attractive and small enough to carry with you. It is a little treasure.

This is the best book on fruit I've ever come across. If you love fruit but have trouble knowing how to pick out the best sweet juicy ripe stuff, this book will tell you exactly what to look for so you'll never be disappointed. The first watermelon I picked out after I got this book was fantastic. The mango, peaches, and grapefruit I bought were great too. Every fruit I've ever heard of is in here, along with some exotic ones I've never seen or tried. The language is simple and straightforward, yet very informative. I really enjoy the little stories behind each fruit, history and myths, that make the book fun to just sit and read. There are also helpful storage tips. Altogether, this is a book you can enjoy and really benefit from, in a beautiful little package.

To be honest, I didn't bother reading the de Camp and Lin Carter stories. Why? They're pastiche authors. And no one can write Conan like its creator, Robert E. Howard. Even Robert Jordan's Conan stories were dirt compared to Robert E. Howard's. To me, pastiche authors are the scum of the earth because they are so low that they have to continue someone elses creation just to make a living--can't they be original. Sure, de Camp has written other stuff, but most people would associate him with Conan. When the Conan movie came out in the 80's, I thought that de Camp was the creator of Conan. Boy was I wrong! As far as the book goes, the three Robert E. Howard stories inside are good, but not Howard's best. I thought that the Frost-Giant's Daughter was the best of the three. But I think that Howard's best short story was A Witch Shall Be Born. Looking at the book as a whole, it's only worth about 2 or 3 stars, but you can blame de Camp and Carter for dragging the rating down.

This is less of a review of this particular volume in the Conan opus as edited & added to by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter than it is a response to the thrashing that the abovementioned writers have been taking in this forum and in many others. It's true that no one can write Conan the way Robert E. Howard could. I'm not convinced anyone has ever really tried. Some of the work de Camp & Carter did with Howard's material is cheesy. Remember - most of their pastiches were written to fill gaps in the timeline. Many of them were written from Howard fragments. It's also true that Karl Edward Wagner did a much better job presenting Howard's writing when he was manning the Conan fort. Wagner's Conan books are now quite expensive and pretty hard to get a hold of. My own introduction to Conan came in the 1980's, through a combination of Marvel Comics and the Ace reprints of the de Camp & Carter editions of the old Lancer paperbacks. Had it not been for the work of de Camp and Carter I might NEVER have discovered any of the works of Robert E. Howard. For that, I am - and I suspect that a lot of readers my age should be - eternally grateful to them. As to CONAN OF CIMMERIA, this is one of the best of the de Camp & Carter editions. The pastiche pieces are readable and the pure Howard is mostly unadulterated. "Queen of the Black Coast" is one of Howard's finest stories. Highly recommended.

The stories in Conan of Cimmeria surpass in content and in language the stories in the first Conan book.

The Curse of the Monolith, by de Camp & Carter, is an okay political story, but the action is kind of weak. A fun little read.

The Bloodstained God, by Howard & de Camp, is the most boring story in this volume. I found it overlong and almost unreadably bad. Not sure why, but I just couldn't stand it.

The Frost Giant's Daughter, I think, is generally considered to be one of the best Conan stories, and I agree. Short and to the point, this story isn't about Conan, the story is Conan.

The Lair of the Ice Worm, by de Camp and Carter, is another fairly good story that doesn't have any relevance in the grand scheme of things, but it's fun and entertaining.

Queen of the Black Coast, by Howard, is another excellent story, dripping with Howard's wonderfully readable style. The heroine here is in no small part the inspiration for Valeria in the first Conan movie.

The Vale of Lost Women, by Howard, is another really good story that really gets into who and what Conan is, not just about one of his feats.

The Castle of Terror, while more entertaining than Bloodstained God, is so stupidly pointless that I wonder why it was written, much less put in here. You're not missing anything if you skip this one.

The Snout in the Dark, while being an improvement of Castle of Terror and Bloodstained God, doesn't reveal anything new about Conan, isn't terribly exciting, but it's still an interesting read.

This book is, again, superior to the first in the series...highly recommended.

This book was awesome! I couldn't tear myself away from the book once I started to read it. While I read I actually started to feel nervous along with the character Samantha. This book is riveting.

A word to the author: Please continue the series! This is a wonderful series and I'm hoping that it will continue. Also could you please do a follow-up of this book. Say like, the summer vacation they went on to Catalia!

This book is full of a young girls romance with a prince it is one of the best books i have ever read and if you like this one check out the other 2 in this sereis THEY ROCK just as much!!!!!!!!

Oh my god i am so glad i read this book.I mean the book was so great> She got to meet the boy of her dreams so coool! Well Peace out< Meghan