field guides and nature books on Asia in the current issue of Persimmon magazine

["Caroline Herrick" <>]

 

In Search of Painted Sweetlips, Wispy Waspfish,

and the Bornean Bristlehead:

a selection of recent field guides and nature books on Asia

 

in the current issue (Summer 2001) of

Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture

 

 

An authoritative report on the most recently published books on bird-watching and diving, flora and fauna in Asia is featured in the Summer issue of Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture. This guide to the guides is written by John Day, a dedicated conservationist who has lived and traveled in Asia  for many years and has served on the boards of the International Crane Foundation, the American Himalalyan Foundation, and the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

 

The issue also features "In the Shadow of the Dam," Peter Hessler's look at life in an endangered town on the Yangtze River, three hundred miles upstream from the controversial Three Gorges Project. (A complete table of contents for the issue can be found below.)

 

Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture is published three times a year by Contemporary Asian Culture, Inc., a not-for-profit educational organization whose mission is to provide to an English-speaking audience insights into contemporary Asian culture and social issues. The magazine is available by subscription, and at newsstands and independent bookstores nationwide, as well as at chains such as Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Tower. For more information about Persimmon, please take a look at our Web site, www.persimmon-mag.com  or contact:

 

 

******************************
Caroline Herrick

 

Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture
46 East 92nd Street
New York, NY 10128
phone/fax 212-831-4751
www.persimmon-mag.com

 

 

CONTENTS

Volume II, Number 2, Summer 2001

 

 

Features

WE JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

by Robert J. Fouser

The techno-pop duo Maywa Denki’s take on the "Japan system."

 

FROM SOUTHWEST CHINA TO APPALACHIA

by L. Somi Roy

Introducing regional filmmakers from Yunnan and Sichuan to the Appalshop media collective in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

 

WOMEN IN THE WAVES

by Jane Handel

The archetypal feminine in the work of Masami Teraoka.

 

A SMALL START

by Ingrid Muan

Artist and Khmer Rouge survivor Vann Nath plans for an old people’s home in Battambang, Cambodia.

 

On-Site: IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAM

by Peter Hessler

Life in a river town on the Yangtze, three hundred miles upstream from the Three Gorges Project.

 

 

Fiction

 

THE GOAT MEAT SPECIAL

by Ho Anh Thai

A morality tale from Vietnam.

 

LEAVING THE GOLDEN LAND

by Amitav Ghosh

An excerpt from The Glass Palace.

 

Interview with Amitav Ghosh

by Biswarup Sen

The award-winning Bengali writer talks about his life and work.

 

 

Departments

 

FROM THE EDITOR

 

LETTERS

 

CITY SCAN - Bangkok, Hong Kong, Medan, New Delhi, Osaka, Seoul

 

GLEANINGS

 

WORTH REPEATING

 

ART

Part Circus, Part Sacred Space: Chinese paper cutting as fine art in the work of Lu Shengzhong

by Alexa Olesen

 

FILM

Chunhyang: Bringing a classic Korean art form to film

by Helen H. Koh

 

BOOKS

In Search of Painted Sweetlips, Wispy Waspfish, and the Bornean Bristlehead: A selection of recent nature books on Asia

by John Day

 

Book Reviews

Shanghai by Riichi Yokomitsu, reviewed by Andrea Kempf

Sputnick Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami, reviewed by Susan J. Napier

Our Twisted Hero by Yi Munyol, reviewed by George Kallander

Wild Kids: Two Novels about Growing Up by Chang Ta-chun, reviewed by Eva San Chou

The River Below by Francois Cheng, reviewed by Tony Giffone

Ladder to the Clouds: Intriguie and Tradition in Chinese Rank, reviewed by John R. Finlay

Model Rebels: The Rise and Fall of China’s Richest Village by Bruce Gilley, reviewed by W.K. Cheng

Who Are the Jews of India? by Nathan Katz, reviewed by Lawrence Cohen

Grow Long, Blessed Night: Love Poems from Classical India translated and edited by Martha Ann Selby, reviewed by Meena Alexander

The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri, reviewed by Arshia Sattar

 

POETRY

Golden Dragon Temple

by Luo Fu