This inspirational new book tells the story of Asian Lutherans in North America. A stirring witness to the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and the community.

Wainapel and Fast, both with Albert Einstein College of Medicine/ Montefiore Medical Center in New York, point out the irony of the speciality of physical medicine and rehabilitation having been considered a form of alternative medicine 50 years ago. Rather than being a practice manual or comprehensive survey of alternative medicine, this volume reflects the evolution of alternative medicine to an integrative/complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) seeking to combine the best of both worlds. Most of the 19 contributed chapters offer evidence-based treatments of such adjuncts to rehabilitation medicine for neurologic and other disorders as chiropractic, massage, yoga, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, acupuncture, nutritional therapy, and magnet therapy. Others discuss recent NIH-funded research, specific CAM treatment approaches, payment for CAM services, and professional literature issues. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In Colors of Veracity, Vera Schwarcz condenses four decades of teaching and scholarship about China to raise fundamental questions about the nature of truth and history. In clear and vivid prose, she addresses contemporary moral dilemmas with a highly personal sense of ethics and aesthetics. Drawing on classical sources in Hebrew and Chinese (as well as several Greek and Japanese texts), Schwarcz brings deep and varied cultural references to bear on the question of truth and falsehood in human consciousness. An attentiveness to connotations and nuance is apparent throughout her work, which redefines both the Jewish understanding of emet (a notion of truth that encompasses authenticity) and the Chinese commitment to zhen (a vision of the real that comprises the innermost sincerity of the seeker’s heart-mind). Works of art, from contemporary calligraphy and installations to fake Chinese characters and a Jewish menorah from Roman times, shed light light on the historian’s task of giving voice to the dread-filled past. Following in the footsteps of literary scholar Geoffrey Hartman, Schwarcz expands on the “Philomela Project, which calls on historians to find new ways of conveying truth, especially when political authorities are bent on enforcing amnesia of past traumatic events. Truth matters, even if it cannot be mapped in its totality. Veracity is shown again and again to be neither black nor white. Schwarcz’ accomplishment is a subtle depiction of “fractured luminosity,” which inspires and sustains the moral conviction of those who pursue truth against all odds.

"In his own country he felt he was in charge, whereas in America he felt like an ant dragging a large (and maybe empty) kernel of wheat, all the while scared of being trampled underfoot. Even so he was well aware that every river in the world empties into the American Ocean."--

The captain of the Divine Dragon special battle Team, Long Fei, returned from hundreds of battles and became an intern in the Dragon City Hospital. Because he saved a beautiful patient, he was drawn into a business competition. With his powerful skills, Long Fei's exceptional intelligence had thwarted all of his opponents' attacks. In the process, Long Fei set up a factory, set up a company, and captured the heart of beauties. In the end, not only did Long Fei become a famous doctor, he even became a business tycoon.

Yi Chung-jun's haunting and disturbing novel is set in the 1950s after the Korean War in the remote south of the country, home of the traditional art of pansori singing, a moving and plangently beautiful style of folk song performed by traveling musicians. The linked stories center on a family of itinerant singers: a boy and his stepfather and half-sister. Believing that his stepfather caused his mother's death, the boy cannot live with the murderous hatred he feels towards him, so he disappears, leaving father and daughter to travel and perform alone. Believing her art can become elevated to the highest standard only by sensory deprivation, the father is said to have blinded the child. Thereafter, she becomes a legendary performer throughout the land. Years later the half-brother arrives in a village and finds his sister in a tavern. He asks her to sing for him, and with his drum accompaniment the two perform pansori songs throughout the night—though never explicitly acknowledging their relationship. So begins an unforgettable chain of events in one of the strangest and most haunting of novels exploring themes such as forgiveness, the redemptive power of art, and modern man's loss of innocence and alienation from traditional values—the values at the heart of Seopyeonje. A magic-realist gem, the novel employs epic myth and fantasy to create a fusion of the real and the fantastic. Yi Chung-jun's story has attained near-mythical status in South Korea, especially with the acclaimed and award-winning film of the novel breaking box-office records on its release in the 1990s.

MOCASIN TRACKS A Novel about Survival and heroism among a band of crow Indians in the old west (What if a 7 y/o captive with great intelligence and special skills appeared in 1837 at a strategically-located village of Crow Indians; that the boy grew up to manhood living among the people, finding, through serendipitous circumstances, that this Crow village responded positively to his leadership. Could this partnership have enabled this particular band to form an organization, unique among American Indians, powerful enough to survive the dire threats to non-Europeans sweeping across America during the 1800’s?) Rick Ruja August, 2010