This book shines like a beacon to future nature writers as it uses every description as the basis for a prosaic mini-essay; rewarding curiosity with enlightenment, fascination and delight. Imagine a reference book so enticing to read that you can't stop reading with just one description. Instead, the object of your curiosity serves as a mere starting point in the book; the first page of what often becomes a genuine sit-down-and-read-it experience.

If every nature writer put this much love into their topics, the trails would be overrun with enthusiastic hikers. Here's hoping that the author visits your neck of the woods soon, and provides you with the same exuberant writing he's given us here in the Pacific Northwest.

If that's the case, may I offer for your amusement a slim little volume of tales by journalist Daniel Elton Harmon and featuring an historical counterpart of the author's by the name of Harper. Mr. Harper is a reporter for the fictitious Columbia, S.C., CHALLENGE in the almost-civilized era of the 1880's. The first compilation of his adventures, THE CHALK TOWN TRAIN & OTHER TALES, is billed as volume one of The Harper Chronicles, and those of us who like nothing better than a rollicking good yarn will be waiting impatiently for volume two.

The title story pits Harper against a notorious sociopath, back before such people actually had a diagnosis. "The Chalk Town Train" is a story of corporate injustice, unadulterated evil and justice administered with more than a touch of irony. Indeed, the purveyance of justice is a recurring theme in the eight stories that comprising the book, with our man Harper using his skill and insight to ferret out the truth, sometimes when no one else can.

Mr. Harmon has a superbly deft hand with the short story, and his characters are sharply drawn with a few adept strokes. From first word to last, each of Harper's adventures proceeds without a stumble, and the reader who can stop after reading just one must have a will of iron. His style is crisp and effortless, setting scenes with an economy of language that likely owes much to the author's own career as a journalist.

Indeed, the only real flaw in THE CHALK TOWN TRAIN is that it's over too soon, and before the appetite is satisfied.

Although this is the first book of fiction by Daniel Elton Harmon, it is far from his first published work. He has written more than thirty non-fiction books.

This is a fascinating collection of eight short stories, each featuring his late-nineteenth-century newspaper reporter hero, Harper. They held my interest to the end.

Harmon is a skilled writer, and I look forward to reading more of his work. He is a yarn spinner of the old school, reminiscent of Samuel Clemens or Booth Tarkington, who revels in story telling for the sake of story telling. A modern troubador. He lives in Lexington, South Carolina where he is well known not only for his writing, but also for his music making with his small folk music band, according to the book's introduction.

There are eight short stories in the book, all of which are quickly read and very entertaining. This is a wonderful book to read for your own pleasure, or to give as a gift. I recommend it highly.

Joseph Pierre,

author of The Road to Damascus and other books.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the book is mind-altering itself. It changed the way I looked at my erstwhile indulgences.

In the distant future, man isn't a whole lot smarter than he is today. We join the great horde in the galaxy thinking that everything is for free. When the bill comes due, it's a shocker.

But we find out quickly through our cast that the whole things a rigged game being played with loaded dice; con artists abound; and talk is definitely not cheap.

This book is a fast but delightful read. The alien cultures are neatly delivered with insight into their way of doing things. And philanthopists they're not.

I strongly recommend "Chess With a Dragon" especially if you have a sense of humor.

Short is not bad. This is a really enjoyable, very good book.

The title "Chess with a Dragon" does not refer to an actual game; rather, at the point where the good guys are in the worst possible shape, one of them has to, hrmm, "negotiate", with an alien creature from a race called the Dragons.

Without spoiling the book: The story takes place in the far future. Man has found the stars, or been found by them; man has been introduced into the galactic society, that revolves around the galactic library, an information storehouse that races can "borrow" information from (running up an information debt), or repay by adding new information to.

As the story opens, mankind is informed that the credit limit has been reached, and it is time to make payment plans. Of course, the race that has purchased the information debt wants one type of collection plan, that isn't necessarily favorable to mankind's future existance.

The design of the jacket cover, however, somewhat falls short of doing full justice to the quality of the book. Especially, the Chinese graphs in the background might mislead potential readers to think that Chinese American literature is more Chinese than American, a misconception that the author himself endeavors to correct in the book.

Yin has offered to the field of Chinese and Asian American studies the first comprehensive overview of Chinese American literary experience from the beginning of Chinese settlement in North America down to the present time. I believe Yin's book has redefined and enriched our perception of Chinese American literature in two significant ways: first, his research has offered us a fuller and engaging look at the early Chinese immigrant writing of the 19th century, and more importantly, it embraces the entire world of Chinese American literature in both Chinese and English. Although it is the concensus of the field that bilingual and transnational approach is most desirable in Chinese American studies, truly bilingual and transnational research is still very hard to find. Yin demonstrates that bilingual and transnational approach is not only most fruitful but also a necessity in Chinese and Asian American studies. What is most impressive is the sense of balance Yin's commentary achieves in dealing with varied voices, often contending, in the worlds of Chinese America. The seven chapters of the book not only includes a historical in-depth view, but also incorporates distinctive perspectives such as immigrant, Eurasian, second-generation, American-born, native-Chinese/American, anti-/pro-assimilation, etc, which together constitutes a rich, diverse, and often contradictory, picture of Chinese American experience. Last but certainly not the least, trained as a cultural historian and Asian Americanist, Xiao-huang Yin combines the best of solid historical research method with an acute literary sensitivity that produces a powerful effect.

Even though this is an academic book based on solid research, it is surprisingly a very easy read. Here is the good news for the general reading public: there is no hard-to swallow academic jargon in Yin's book. Another aspect I find that it is such an entertaining read is that his notes are full of "gems." Not only will you find who ate the altar food, you can also find, for instance, who said "white man first, socialist second," who's the first Chinese graduate from an American college, how much money a Chinese-language writer in America makes, etc. Given the increasing importance of the Chinese American community in the making of a multicultural America, Yin's timely book is well-suited to benefit the general reading public in their understanding of major (cross-) cultural issues facing Chinese American communities not only historically but also in the ever-changing dynamics of the present.