Books
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China Still Not Gaining Soft Power in US
China went large at the recent Book Expo America in New York but, for the most part, American readers did not notice. Maybe they were turned off by marketing language like this: "provides visually perceptive materials for education in patriotism… Continue reading
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No Self, No Other, Gish Jen, and Bipolar Disorder
I have ordered my copy of Gish Jen's new book, Tiger Writing, spured on by yesterday's review of it in the NYT. Here's the gist: …Jen’s father had been born into a culture whose parenting style explicitly intends the humbling… Continue reading
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The Dao of Wolverines
Just had to mention this article, which reports that Jon Horford, a forward on the University of Michigan basketball team, is a student of the Daodejing. Fantastic. And it seems that the young man has a good grasp on the… Continue reading
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Book News: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dao
Since last I mentioned it here on the blog, my new book – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life – is starting to take physical shape. Or maybe it is just virtual… Continue reading
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When Martin Jacques Fools the World
Couldn't resist the title, which came to mind after I read this recent BBC commentary by Martin Jacques: "Is China more legitimate than the West?" (his book is entiteld When China Rules the World) There are many problems with the… Continue reading
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A First Look at Chinese Philosophy
A book review in Asia Times caught my eye. It considers what appears to be a new edition (2011?) of Arthur Waley's classic text: Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. Professor Dmitry Shlapentokh, a historian from the Indiana University-South… Continue reading
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Kissinger is wrong on Confucius
So there I am, waiting for the lady in the bookstore to calculate my savings on my purchase of several volumes, and I notice Henry Kissinger's new book, On Chna, which is not one that I am buying just now,… Continue reading
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Philosophy as a Way of Life
Philosophy was featured on the cover of this past Sunday's NYT Book Review: two pieces on new philosophy books. I was particularly taken with one, Sarah Bakewell's review of Jame Miller's new book: Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche. Bakewell… Continue reading
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On Herbert Fingarette
Chris, at A Ku Indeed!, and Peony, at Tang Dynasty Times, have started a discussion of Herbert Fingarette's marvelous little book, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred. I'll be following along and commenting at both places. And, if you're interested, here… Continue reading
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Straw Dogs
A piece in yesterday’s NYT Book Review caught my eye, a review of a new book, Black Mass, by John Gray, the British political philosopher. Gray has popped up here on The Useless Tree twice before, once in… Continue reading
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