Meditations from a Movable Chair

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In his first book of essays, Broken Vessels, Andre Dubus uses experiences such as baseball games and sheep herding as occasions for insight. His second essay collection, Meditations from a Movable Chair, is about the people who have meant the most to him. The book conjures a cloud of witnesses--Dubus's father, his sister, Norman Mailer, Liv Ullmann, a gay military officer--so vividly that their gifts to Dubus become gifts to the reader, as well. Many of these people helped Dubus understand the holiness, even sacramentality, of everyday life, which he describes in explicitly Catholic terms. Meditations from a Movable Chair is a rare and wonderful thing--a book written out of love, whose richness of heart is expressed by an exacting and challenging mind. --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

The twenty-five luminous and intensely personal essays in this collection are, like Andre Dubus's celebrated short stories, a testament to the author's vulnerability, vision, and indestructible faith. Since losing one leg and the use of the other in a 1986 accident, Dubus has experienced despair, learned acceptance, and, finally, found joy in the sacramental magic of even the most quotidian tasks.
Whether he is writing of the relationship with his father, the rape of his beloved sister, his Catholic faith, the suicide of a gay naval officer, his admiration for fellow writers like Hemingway and Mailer, or the simple act of making sandwiches for his daughters' lunchboxes, Dubus cuts straight to the heart of things. Here we have a master at the height of his powers, an artist whose work "is suffused with grace, bathed in a kind of spiritual glow" (The New York Times Book Review).

Customer Reviews:

A Patchwork Quilt.......2002-07-09

A book of occasionally lovely short essays surrounded by a battery of incidental writing that should've been omitted. Dubus at his best, only evident here now and then, offers us writing that builds slowly, gathering a few seemingly unrelated details and weaving them into something uniquely powerful. It shouldn't be surprising then to know that the essays in this book that don't hold up well are all too abbreviated and short, more editorial than essay, ending just as they've begun. His religious thoughts, obviously sincere but still cloying, further interrupt the book's best moments.

Dubus however knows when he's on to something, and the essays here that stand out, such as that concerning the suicide of a gay military officer, show why Dubus earned his reputation as a craftsman. Much like his seminal story "A Father's Story," this essay tells us as much of the narrator as it does of the narrative's events. It's writing like this that shows the gulf between Dubus at his best, and Dubus simply on a friendly ramble, unable to mask his innate sadness -- both before and after the accident that left him in a wheelchair.

Perhaps that's what this book suggests most clearly, that Dubus never could quite wheel himself away from a depression that's as present as the author's almost daily upper-case Communion.

Thought provoking.......2001-05-19

Many people are familiar with Andre Dubois's son and his book(an Oprah pick) The house of Sand and fog. Andre Duboius has long been considered a master of the short story, and the eye that served him well at that craft is equally appreciated when turned inward. DuBois was confined to a wheelchair when injured in an accident, and as a result, accepted the challenge to look inward. In essays detailing his struggle with mortality, his failings, his life as a writer and the struggle to find the sacred in the everyday Mr. DuBois is honest and open. At times, you may think the conclusions are a bit too pat or packaged, and yet, there is no doubt in regards to the sincerity.

I met all of his family this January........2000-09-08

On January 2000, I visited Mr. Andre Dubus' old house and grave in Haverhill, MA. His house was silent like a library and his grave has not been constructed. I showed his letter for me to his family (his son) Andre Dubus III in Newburyport, MA. Though we have not met before we have had same feeling like a deep grief.

Also I visited the seashore that this book had taken as a cover.

I had translated his work just one in several months for Japanese readers in two literary magazines in Japan.

He did not kill by himself, I believe.

Andre Dubus's Daily Bread.......2000-07-08

Shortly after finishing "Meditations from a Moveable Chair," I learned that Andre Dubus recently had died. I was surprisingly startled, considering he was a man I never knew and with whose writing I was merely acquainted. My reaction to the news of his death speaks a great deal about the quality and affect of Dubus's austere and confessional prose. Dubus frequently ends essays in the volume by recalling the moment of the piece's composition, as if he is offering not only an artifice, but the origin, the spot of time and emotion and weather from which the artifice emerged. In some cases this device seems almost redundant because his clean prose seemed already imbued with the sense of being written; especially in the essays recounting manual labor, jogging, or taking churchyard laps in his wheelchair, I imagined a man (resembling the man with a pensive scowl on the book's jacket) hammering away at a typewriter. Despite being about many quotidian things, Dubus's writing reminds me of a few lines of "Song of Myself": "Not words of routine this song of mine, / But abruptly to question, to leap beyond yet nearer bring." Although at times I thought Dubus was simply repeating himself, well, simply, I found the essays to be touching, memorable, and a pleasure to read. "Meditations from a Moveable Chair" is markedly anti-stoic: beneath its equivocal title, the volume effuses the pleasures and pain of life after a literal "wreck of body," and offers itself to its reader as a sacrifice and another one of Dubus's sacraments.

Keep Praying.......2000-03-16

All over the world we should keep praying for the repose of Andre Dubus's soul, for he prayed so hard for the repose of ours. This book, and any of the others, is for the reader tired of glitz but unwilling to be dishonest. Do you believe in poetry after Auschwitz? How about the Eucharist after Columbine? If these are hard questions, read Andre Dubus. He had no easy answers, no quick fixes. Nor did he whine and celebrate postmodern angst while complacently tenured in an MFA program. God but we needed him!

Meditations From A Movable Chair - Essays

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Meditations From A Movable Chair - Essays
Andre Dubus
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IWYG1Y

Book Description

The uneasy peace between the Empire of Videssos and the nation of Makuran was crumbling. War came, and the King of Makuran lay dead on the field of battle. Worse, a power-mad minister had seized the throne and the rightful heir had disappeared. Abivard, son of a Makuran lord who also had fallen in the same battle, realized that his only hope of saving his family and his land was to find the missing heir, though that would mean he would be branded traitor and become the target of every armed man who served the usurper-and of his nation's most powerful sorcerers.Note: The Time of Troubles I was originally published separately as The Stolen Throne and Hammer and Anvil.

Customer Reviews:

Repackaging of 2 older Videssos novels.......2005-10-10

With this book and The Time of Troubles II, the 4-book Time of Troubles novels are being republished. Volume I contains The Stolen Throne, which is told from the Marukaner Abivard's point of view, and Hammer and Anvil, which moves to the Videssian Empire six years later. Abivard starts off his novel as a diqhan, a landholder in the frontier area, who ends up helping the rightful King of Marukan regain his throne. In order to defeat the usurping King, Abivard must join forces with the Emperor of Videssos, and a price will be paid for that cooperation.

Hammer and Anvil has protagonist Maniakes, who leads an insurrection against the bloodthirsty Videssian Emperor (who gained the throne by murdering the previous Emperor, the very one who helped Abivard in the previous novel).

Once again the books closely follow the history of the Byzantine Empire, with magic overlayed here and there. This is the same formula, history meets fantasy, used in the Darkness series (which retold World War II as a sword and sorcery epic) and the Peachtree trilogy (The US Civil War). Turtledove, as always, does it well.

I can't give the book (the two novels) five stars because the characters are too similar to Turtledove's other heroes: logical-thinking straight-talking types married to women much like themselves. The characters observe repeatedly that war kills people, that women do battle in the birthing bed, and that people are people the world over. The books are enjoyable but don't make the leap to profound.

The March of Time: War Abroad Depression At Home 1937 (Part I: Video Tape "Trouble-Abroad, 1937-1939")

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The March of Time: War Abroad Depression At Home 1937 (Part I: Video Tape "Trouble-Abroad, 1937-1939")
Westbrook Van Voorhis
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000VBJ8VA

Product Description

Video Tape: The March of Time: War Abroad Depression At Home 1937 (Part I: "Trouble-Abroad, 1937-1939").

I. Wills & trusts.: An article from: Life Lines: Documents to Protect You and Your Family in Times of Trouble

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I. Wills & trusts.: An article from: Life Lines: Documents to Protect You and Your Family in Times of Trouble

Manufacturer: National Center for Lesbian Rights
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Life Lines: Documents to Protect You and Your Family in Times of Trouble, published by National Center for Lesbian Rights on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 848 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: I. Wills & trusts.
Publication: Life Lines: Documents to Protect You and Your Family in Times of Trouble (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: National Center for Lesbian Rights
Page: NA

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Liudi i sobytiia Smutnogo vremeni (Istoriia v litsakh)

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Liudi i sobytiia Smutnogo vremeni (Istoriia v litsakh)
D. A Gutnov
Manufacturer: Izd-vo "GITIS"
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 5719602771

O Kreml i Smolenszczyzne: Polityka Rzeczypospolitej wobec Moskwy w latach 1607-1612 (Roczniki Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu)

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O Kreml i Smolenszczyzne: Polityka Rzeczypospolitej wobec Moskwy w latach 1607-1612 (Roczniki Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu)
Wojciech Polak
Manufacturer: Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 8390568314

Taina tsarevicha Dmitriia: Opyt rassmotreniia ego sudby s istoricheskoi, psikhologicheskoi i dukhovnonauchnoi tochki zreniia

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Taina tsarevicha Dmitriia: Opyt rassmotreniia ego sudby s istoricheskoi, psikhologicheskoi i dukhovnonauchnoi tochki zreniia
Sergei O Prokofieff
Manufacturer: "Evidentis"
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ASIN: 5780800308

What must I do to see the King coming in His glory?

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What must I do to see the King coming in His glory?
Benjamin F Gregory
Manufacturer: The Author
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

There is a long tradition of Great Detectives, and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. But his search for a missing cat uncovers a ghost, a time traveler, AND the devastating secret of humankind! Detective Gently's bill for saving the human race from extinction: NO CHARGE.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Oddballs, including the private investigator.

Yep, I tried this book because I liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and probably needn't have bothered, as it was only ok. Some more of the odd sort of things happening, but not in a funny way, really, as the titular character looks into the bizarre actions of a friend, and the strange goings on that may tie everything together.

Utterly, utterly hilarious.......2007-07-13

Being a long time fan of Douglas Adam's, I couldn't help buying this book and reading it, and of course I was glad I did.
The book itself is a hilarious/ sci-fish mystery, and does a great job of entertaining. The best part of the novel is the main character Dirk Gently, who is very, very funny, in a much different way than say, Ford Prefect or Arthur Dent.
Unfortunately, Douglas Adams has only left us with more book in the series, The Long Dark Tea-time of the soul (although you can read part of the third book Douglas Sdams wrote before he died in the Salmon of Doubt), which is also hilarious and worth reading. With that being said, buy this book, you won't regret it.

A lesser-know Adams classic!.......2007-04-11

Okay, it's a really weird book. That I will admit. But it's also very funny and clever - especially the way everything does tie in together at the end (hence the "holistic" part). As always, Douglas Adam's characters are witty, engaging, and just a bit off-center. A great read, as long as you are not unwilling to suspend some conventional beliefs... Though it never fully explains the mystery of the couch stuck in the stairwell...

Excellent.......2007-04-03

Just like the "Hitchhikers Guide" this book is a thinking man's escape from reality. Few books are this funny, or insightful. A great read.

Great book, in every sense........2006-11-07

Douglas Adams' wit and style come through in full force in this novel. Every time I finish another one of his books, I cry a little bit knowing that I have one less left to read. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is no exception. He did such a great job of creating a huge mess of comic confusion, then bringing it all back around full circle, with a bit of surprise, always a laugh, sometimes a little groan of disapproval, and never-ending satisfaction.

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul & Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

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One Amazing Book, Another Pretty Boring
Not the Hitchhiker's Guide Series,.. but still good
Adams reads some of his best work
The long dark rambling of the boredom&dirk gentlys confusing
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and Dirk Gently

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul & Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Douglas Adams
Manufacturer: Audio Literature
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0787122807

Customer Reviews:

One Amazing Book, Another Pretty Boring.......2005-12-27

Dirk Gently is probably Douglas Adam's best written book and has an extremely well defined plot. The humor as good as ever, I laughed out loud on many occassions. The notion of "fundamental interconnectedness of things" that Adams introduces in this book is quite powerful and yet quite humorous. The problem of the stuck couch in an impossible position, missing cats, ancient professors in universities, an electric monk - a multiple set of oddities all fall into place into a great pattern.

I found Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul a bit boring. It is interesting in parts but on the whole there's much new stuff in what Adams says.

On the whole the book is a great buy - if you liked Hitchhiker's series at all, you would most certainly love Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Guaranteed.

Not the Hitchhiker's Guide Series,.. but still good.......2005-02-09

A previous reviewer has noticed that this work is really nothing like the Hitchhiker's Guide books. While this is true, this does not make this a bad book. It is just that it is almost in a different genre.

If you were expecting the hilarity that is the HGTTG series, you may be surprised. But if you enjoy detective stories that make you think, you'll love these books. Just realize that Adams often doesn't expressly tie up all the loose ends: he expects the reader to be able to reason well enough to figure it out.

Adams reads some of his best work.......2001-08-24

After reading the five (!) books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, I turned to his two books featuring Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective. Although it took me a bit of time to warm to these stories, I wound up liking them even better than the HhGttG trilogy, much to my surprise. This audiobook version of these two excellent books is everything you would want in such a thing - unabridged and read by the author. On the downside, it is slightly pricey, and on the way far downside, it is out of print, and therefore a little hard to find. (Here's hoping that is remedied soon.) The late and much lamented (by me in any case) Douglas Adams was a writer of rare talent. He could write books about great subjects such as the origin of life and the meaning of existence, and make them riotously funny and entertaining. I believe that the only thing that will keep him from being recognized as a major writer is that he wrote science fiction. Too bad, because science fiction or not, his stuff was superb.

The long dark rambling of the boredom&dirk gentlys confusing.......2001-01-17

... agency.

Well,I love his other books, you know. hhgttg (hithchikers guide to the galaxy) trilogy, In fact it's my favorite book. But this one SUUUCKS!! I can't remember how many times I fell asleep while tring to read this monstrosity. I still haven't figured out why the horse was upstairs to begin with, and now,I really don't care.

The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and Dirk Gently.......2000-03-26

Being a long-time fan of Douglas Adams and his "Hitchhiker Series" doesn't automatically mean you will fall in love with Dirk Gently, but...

If you have any love of Norse Mythology, and enjoy a great Detective story...you will love these stories immensely.

Lurking refrigerators, redheaded housekeepers, Odin, Thor, jets, the birth of new Gods, Valhalla, cripsy linen sheets, exploding desks at airports, missing passports, pregnant cats, Coke machines, time warps, hot potatoes, rock groups, soothsayers, strange horoscopes, greed, history, mythology, and of course at the center of it all is the humor of Douglas Adams.

Customer Reviews:

Is it still a title if I do it this way?.......2007-03-02

This is a fun, complete, egotistical translation of Chuang Tzu. Fun, because it is full of zaniness and funny names and joy. Complete, because it contains all of Chuang Tzu and not just the easily amusing bits. Egotistical, because the author is a scholar and foolishly uses the PC "she/her" even when "he/him" would be better; deletes random bits he doesn't approve of and then lumps them together at the back; goes on about what he can't know anything about in the front matter and puts more of these bits in the beginning of each chapter. Should you buy this book? Oh, sure. Buy one. Should you be like the translator and flap your opinions around? Oh, sure. Everything makes a noise. Should you be like the author and make people wiser and happier for two thousand years? Oh, oops -- got to go -- I've said too much.

Best Translation of Chuang Tzu in English.......2006-10-28

This is an amazing book. Mair explains his methods in his introduction; he claims that Chuang Tzu is a literary writer first and a philosopher second. As such, Mair aims to capture the inimitable style of Master Chuang, whom he claims created new ways of expressing oneself in Chinese. The resulting text is a fabulously refreshing collection of parables, which seems to contain the essence of philosophical Taoism. Chuang Tzu has much to teach us about the utility of uselessness, the interchangeable nature of the large and small, and my favourite teaching, the futility of 'guarding against thieves.' Chuang Tzu explains in chapter 10 'Ransacking Coffers' that people who go to great lengths to guard against thieves are just preparing things for the 'great robber.' This seems to have something to say about the nature of capitalism, especially in this era of corporate takeovers and the like. Chuang Tzu is an antidote for modern life.

Mair includes the complete text of Chuang Tzu, not limiting himself to the 'Inner Chapters' (which are regarded as being actually written by Chuang Tzu). He includes the 'Outer' and 'Miscellaneous Chapters', many of which Mair claims are the equal or superior of the Inner Chapters. Each chapter is prefaced by a note giving context to the authorship of the chapter. For instance, Mair regards some of the chapters as being written by Confucianists who have somehow wormed their way into Chuang Tzu over the centuries.

This book compares favourably to other translations of Chuang Tzu I have read. My first exposure to Chuang came in Burton Watson's translation of the Inner Chapters, and while I have not read this book for many years, it was Watson who convinced me of the necessity to study this quasi-historical figure. 'The Essential Chuang Tzu' (Hammill & Seaton) was disappointing in comparison to this book. Thomas Merton's 'The Way of Chuang Tzu' is a nice little book, but not of the same calibre of this volume. In short, Mair's volume seems to me to be the definitive translation.

Chuang Tzu can change your life--quite literally--if you are willing and able to pursue a life of carefree wandering. It's a book not to be missed.

the Chuang tzu.......2003-05-17

One trusts this is probably the best English translation there is of the Chuang Tzu. The Chuang tzu has a unique place in the world of spiritual writings; it breathes the air of freedom like nothing else. Not knowing ancient Chinese, however, the only thing I can say is that I am very happy with this translation.

The Best Available Translation Of This Toaist Classic.......2002-03-13

Though Burton Watson's translation comes a close second, this version is the absolute best English translation I have found. Mair includes the "rhyming prose" the poetry and lots of the zaniness that somehow gets passed over in other translations. For those wishing to have more notes Mair generously refers them to his writings in the Sino-Platonic Papers. Mair is second to none in his understanding of archaic Chinese and takes us back to the truly revolutionary collection of writings that Chuang Tzu really is.

Superb translation but with a lack of notes.......2001-08-04

It's a fresh and scholarly translation, but also potentially controversial, since a few sections of the text have been deleted (even from the Inner Chapters). The deletions are not noted in the main text (the general reader will be unaware of them) or clearly explained. They can be found in the "Deleted Passages" appendix at the end of the book. Some translations are unconventional, like "look after your parents" (Watson) in the beginnig of chapter 3, is translated by Victor Mair as "Nourish your inmost viscera"; it would be interesting to know why. I would look forward to another edition with notes.

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Great work of fiction
Excellent!
The Gods have a test for us to take...
An amazing adventure in ancient Taoist wisdom
A great piece of fiction, unfortunately presented as fact

The Wandering Taoist
Deng Ming-Dao
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062502263

Customer Reviews:

Great work of fiction.......2006-09-08

Example- From Poul Andersen, A Visit to Huashan in Cahiers d'Extreme Asie 5 (1989-90): pg. 349 - 354:

"It may be added in this connection that the book [Hedda Morrison's Hua Shan: The Taoist Sacred Mountain in West China], with its fascinating pictures of monks and landscapes, has evidently served as one of the sources for an interesting forgery concerning Huashan, namely Deng Ming-Dao's The Wandering Taoist (San Francisco, 1983). The latter publication contains the biography of one Kwan Saihung, a teacher of martial arts somewhere in the United States, who was ostensibly brought up on Huashan and there initiated into the Zhengyi Huashan sect (sic). The biography is presented as based on stories allegedly told by the master himself. Thus on p. 59 we read, as part of the hero's account of his experiences during his first ascent of Huashan: "The East Peak Monastery was plain stucco and tile and was composed of groups of four-square buildings set in quadrangles. There were also smaller huts of wood and clay. As they passed a hut set behind an iron bell topped with a stone cup that collected dew, Saihung saw a willow-thin man sunning himself on the terrace. He wore grey robes and a black hat with a jade rectangle sewn to its front. The accolytes told Saihung that he was a sorcerer." But comparison with Plate 38 in Morrison's book makes it clear beyond peradventure that the description is based upon this photograph, and not possibly on independent observation at Huashan. No doubt the picture shows the dew-collecting stone cup above the iron bell, but closer scrutiny reveals that in fact the cup is standing at some distance behind the bell. It is thus only the photographic angle that makes it possible to see "an iron bell topped with a stone cup" (in itself, of course, a rather unlikely concept). "

I'd like to get a copy of Hedda's pictorial book and check out this description. http://www.daoiststudies.org/scholars.php?cmd=list&userid=936

Anyways, I enjoyed the book a lot.

Excellent!.......2005-08-11

Not only is this an engaging story, it also has good info on Taoism. I found it very inspiring to do more reserch on Taoism.

The Gods have a test for us to take..........2004-11-30

I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly this text flows, but then perhaps I should have expected this from a work so full of the true essence of the Tao. Primarily, this is the story of the education of a Taoist adept and renunciate from willful child to a master who is fully in harmony with heaven and earth. Secondarily, it is a glimpse into the intact monastic community of the Haushan mountains- before its dissolution in the post-Imperial chaos of the 20th century.

There is more than a little Taoist wisdom interwoven into the story. Indeed, it is a fine teaching aid. You get a sense of the careful guiding and molding of young Kwan Saihung by the Grand Master. Basic Taoist ethics, meditation, internal alchemy, healing, martial arts, divination, astral travel- are all touched upon. You get a sense of both the mundane and tedious groundwork of monastic life, as well as, the ego-shattering elements of crisis and initiation.

The advice concerning the purging of one's ming huan (karma) is especially refreshing in today's world. You came into this world with problems and dilemmas to be met and mastered. You are to burn away all your attachments and worldly goals, purge desire, and satisfy the thirst for knowledge (the exact opposite of the teachings of modern materialism.) You never refuse experience, and you overcome all obstacles that such experience presents. In this way you can leave this word fulfilled and pass to a higher plane.

Saihung's anger at the Japanese invasion of the 30's- and his decision to leave the order and fight as a "wandering Taoist"- is more than a little appropriate in today's world. After years of soul-numbing combat he returned to the monastery. He had come to realize the ultimate corruption of the outer world and the meaninglessness of war. He came to realize that humanity had to work out their own destiny- including war- and that no Taoist (or even the Jade Emperor) could do it for them.

An amazing adventure in ancient Taoist wisdom.......2004-04-01

This is an amazing book with an enlightening story!

This is an incredible adventure of boy growing up in an ancient secret Chinese Taoist martial art school. The book shines light on the lost art and science of the supernatural potential of the transcendent human.

It seems to be a mystery whether this book is fiction or not. But since I have read it I have run into a lot of material that could support it as a non-fiction. For instance there is a lot of archeological evidence, as hard as it is to believe, that ancient people had supernatural abilities far superior to anything we currently know.

One thing that I thought was fiction before was the part about the vast caves of Huashan which were unheard of; that is until now: Vast ancient of caves of Huashan were just discovered by a local farmer, by accident at a mysterious latitude 30 degrees north connecting with the pyramids and the Bermuda Triangle. Read: http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/53225.htm Just finding out about this new discovery of these caves motivated me into writing a review for this book.

Did the person who wrote this book have some ancestral or secret information from `Master Kwan'? Was this information purposefully kept a mystery as to whether it was fiction or not for controversial or considerate reasons? Who knows?

Whether the book is fiction or not doesn't matter because it's an adventure that can never the less open your mind to a bigger picture of the human condition.

A great piece of fiction, unfortunately presented as fact.......2003-04-01

a wonderful fun read that I strongly recommend, however do not be misled by the claim that this book is history - it is historical fiction, the first part of a ripping trilogy, unfortunately out of print. It is a shame that the author mars this with the patently false claim of authenticity. The first two volumes of the trilogy are excellent, however the third falls way down - who would believe that a master of chinese martial arts would have such difficulty learning boxing?

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THE WANDERING TAOIST
Deng Ming-Dao
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NWW58A

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The Wandering Taoist
Deng Min-Dao
Manufacturer: Harper & Row, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IY1HI2

Average customer rating:

The Wandering Taoist

Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GX6IO8

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Wandering Taoist
Ming Dao Deng
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF1MH6

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