One hundred years of coffee culture in the land of tea.
Insights into China, Part 6: An afternoon in a café
Insights into China, Part 5: An invitation to a party
In which a gaping East-West cultural difference is explained.
Insights into China, Part 4: A visit to the library
The surprising popularity of libraries in China.
Five steps toward personal emancipation in an Orwellian world
An anti-fascist, anti-capitalist personal self-help guide for immediate practical application.
The Tao of Poison. A novel.
A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.
Loving many: Polyamorous self-actualization
Exploring the concept of generous intimacy.
Music for massage, meditation, sex, and psychedelics
Contemplating the music of the future.
An alien expat visits post-Covid USA
A 5,000-mile road trip to see old friends in changed times.
Pop music and the Asian face
Thoughts on aversive racism in the American music industry.
Insights into China, Part 3: A stay in a hotel
The contradictions of China’s hospitality industry.
Insights into China, Part 2: A visit to a restaurant
There is no more revealing window into Chinese culture than its restaurants.
Insights into China, Part 1: A walk down the street
Chinese culture from the perspective of a pedestrian.
Music and totalitarianism
What happens to music when the state gets its hands on it.
Datura and the psychedelic Tao
Taoist sexual technology supercharged by the world’s most powerful entheogen.
Isham Cook’s China book picks by Book Shepherd
15 China books recommended by Isham Cook plus a few of his own.
ISHAM COOK 