ISHAM COOK

Question everything 切問而近思 – Confucius

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Midnight in Peking and true crime fiction

By Isham Cook on January 11, 2020 • ( 4 Comments )

A few maps put Paul French’s “true crime” story in perspective.

Chungking: China’s heart of darkness

By Isham Cook on December 29, 2019 • ( Leave a comment )

A brief history of travel in China and the challenges of inhospitality.

Out of the squalor and into the light: When the Shanghai wall came down

By Isham Cook on September 15, 2019 • ( 2 Comments )

Glimmers of Shanghai’s modernity in a 19th-century courtesan novel.

The breasts of Bali: An update

By Isham Cook on June 22, 2019 • ( 1 Comment )

Things are grim on the ground but the tradition lives on in pictures.

Confucius and opium

By Isham Cook on April 15, 2019 • ( Leave a comment )

An investigation of intoxicants in the time of Confucius.

Multilingualism and the time travel novel

By Isham Cook on November 3, 2018 • ( 3 Comments )

Writers who play carelessly with time may leave the language in tatters.

The expat and the prostitute: Four classic novels, 1956–62

By Isham Cook on June 11, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

Reviews of McKenna’s The Sand Pebbles, Mason’s The World of Suzie Wong, Arsan’s Emmanuelle, and Reynolds’ A Woman from Bangkok.

Isham Cook on Twitter

By Isham Cook on May 1, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

Literary disruptions of an American in China.

American massage

By Isham Cook on April 7, 2018 • ( 2 Comments )

After long experience in East and Southeast Asia, the author turns his attention to the massage scene in his home country.

The Kitchens of Canton. A novel

By Isham Cook on February 4, 2018 • ( 1 Comment )

Dystopian satire distilling the worst of our present and future into a strangely seductive maze of a story.

Massage diary: Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam

By Isham Cook on July 1, 2017 • ( 1 Comment )

Wending my way through Mekong River territory to sample some of the world’s most varied massage offerings.

Updating the great Chinese socialist realist novel

By Isham Cook on May 17, 2017 • ( 4 Comments )

Satirical review of the latest addition to Chinese socialist realist fiction.

Facebook, rococo vulvas, and the pornographic imagination

By Isham Cook on May 6, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

What happens when wayward algorithms are allowed to censor content on social media.

Magic Theater Books on Facebook

By Isham Cook on April 23, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

Isham Cook’s latest books and blogs and other news on related topics.

American Rococo: Essays on the Edge

By Isham Cook on March 19, 2017 • ( 1 Comment )

Essays on Western culture ranging from the last Ice Age to the Renaissance to contemporary America’s obsessions and hysterias.

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  • Sexual Fascism: Essays
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BOOKS BY ISHAM COOK

Sexual Fascism: Essays: “An impassioned, thought-provoking manifesto that’s brave enough to raise scandalous questions.” — Kirkus Reviews

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The Mustachioed Woman of Shanghai. A novel: “Readers who enjoy quirky, erotic mysteries will savor this tale.” — BookLife Reviews by Publishers Weekly


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Confucius and Opium — China Book Reviews: “An offbeat, erudite work of China-centered literary criticism.” — Kirkus Reviews


AMAZON

The Kitchens of Canton. A novel: “An insightful, unconventional, and risqué view of present-day culture.” — Kirkus Reviews


AMAZON
Read chapters 1-6

American Rococo — Essays on the Edge: “Food for thought, elegantly prepared.” — Kirkus Reviews


AMAZON
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At the Teahouse Café — Essays from the Middle Kingdom: “Insights into a culture that is notoriously opaque to outsiders.” — Kirkus Reviews


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Massage and the Writer: “Fascinating portrait…into the titillating establishments the world has to offer.” — Kirkus Reviews


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The Exact Unknown and Other Tales of Modern China: “A surreal compilation of tales about sex, love, and money in the Far East.” — Kirkus Reviews


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Lust & Philosophy: “A visceral novel that explores many different lusts and cultures.” — Kirkus Reviews


AMAZON
Read chapters 1-6

The Exact Unknown (Chinese):


SMASHWORDS:
確信的未知(繁體字).mobi/.rtf/.txt
确信的未知(简体字).mobi/.rtf/.txt

Lust & Philosophy (Chinese):


SMASHWORDS:
情欲與哲理(繁體字).mobi/.rtf/.txt
情欲与哲理 (简体字).mobi/.rtf/.txt

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