ISHAM COOK

Question everything 切問而近思 – Confucius

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The ventriloquist’s dilemma: Asexual Anglo travelogues of China

By Isham Cook on April 16, 2013 • ( 28 Comments )

The jostling voices and fraught sexual ambivalence of Anglo-Americans writing about China.

Philip Glass and Tan Dun

By Isham Cook on January 18, 2013 • ( Leave a comment )

The two most prominent American composers of our time have more in common than it would seem.

The Chinese art of noise

By Isham Cook on December 21, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

Putting a song on repeat is as logical to the Chinese as decorating the walls of a room with the same wallpaper.

How to have fun in China’s disposable cities

By Isham Cook on November 10, 2012 • ( 7 Comments )

Chinese cities happily gut their historical districts to rebuild them into cheesy simulacra which in turn will soon see the bulldozer.

Lust & Philosophy. A novel

By Isham Cook on September 16, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

Debut autobiographical novel will appeal to fans of Hermann Hesse, Philip K. Dick, J. G. Ballard and other novelists of the uncanny.

The Chinese university: A primer for prospective foreign teachers

By Isham Cook on August 20, 2012 • ( 30 Comments )

When I asked students what they learned in their politics classes, they couldn’t even remember the names of the courses.

The poverty of the institutional imagination: The case of Beijing’s moats and canals

By Isham Cook on July 25, 2012 • ( 12 Comments )

If it reclaimed its water system, Beijing could become a great city of canals.

Multiply, cascade, explode: A theory of literary fiction

By Isham Cook on June 16, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

“Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: ‘Here are our monsters,’ without immediately turning the monsters into pets” — Derrida

Questioning China’s “5,000 years” master trope

By Isham Cook on May 7, 2012 • ( 35 Comments )

When measured against other ancient civilizations, China is not 5,000 years old but more like 3,000-3,500 years old.

A modest proposal regarding sex work: Why all sex should be paid for

By Isham Cook on April 3, 2012 • ( 7 Comments )

The sexual fees levied on hubby would compensate working wives for the housework they do on top of their day job.

A Shakespeare sex-and-violence starter kit

By Isham Cook on January 29, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

It was not just Shakespeare’s obsession; we can assume virtually the entire audience attending his plays was syphilitic.

On harpsichords and white pianos: The challenge of music in China

By Isham Cook on January 11, 2012 • ( 26 Comments )

Our distaste for the white piano stems from certain associated stars of the Easy Listening school (Liberace, Clayderman, etc.): music for people who don’t like music.

Theatrics of Japanese Noh, Kabuki, and the mixed-bathing Onsen

By Isham Cook on January 11, 2012 • ( 20 Comments )

A visit to a nude mixed-bathing Onsen revealed more than passing resemblance to the traditional Japanese dramatic stage.

The Chinese-Japanese cultural chasm on display at Starbucks

By Isham Cook on January 1, 2012 • ( 11 Comments )

Profound cultural differences epitomized by Chinese and Japanese Starbucks.

The high priests of medicine: U.S. and Chinese hospitals

By Isham Cook on November 30, 2011 • ( 2 Comments )

The USA and China both bear the distinction of having the worst health care systems in the world not attributable to national poverty.

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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


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


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


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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


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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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