Living With The Dragon

It is widely believed that most Americans not only distrust but also despise China. Considering the country's violent political history, unprecedented economic rise, and growing military capabilities, China has become America's strongest market competitor and arguably the most challenging global threat to the United States. Nevertheless, a full consideration of American opinion proves the opposite to be true. Carefully analyzing all available polls and surveys, Benjamin I. Page and Tao Xie find most Americans favor peaceful engagement with China. The public view has been surprisingly coherent and consistent, changing only in response to major events and new information. While a majority of Americans are not happy that China's economy is projected to become as large as that of the United States, they are prepared to live with it. "Unfair" Chinese trade practices and their impact on American jobs and wages are a concern, along with the quality and safety of Chinese-made goods. However, Americans favor free trade with China, provided it is tempered with environmental and workplace protections. They also believe that the United States should "balance" Chinese power through alliances with neighboring countries, such as Japan. Yet they oppose military action to defend Taiwan. Page and Xie examine these opinions in relation to facts about China and in light of current U.S. debates on diplomacy and policy.

This short book is distinguished by: 1) its systematic and comprehensive approach to the under-explored subject of unintended consequences; 2) its focus on the inherent unpredictability of human action as a major cause of such consequences; 3) its contention that these consequences pose serious challenges to the way in which moral philosophy has been done in the past; and 4) its exploration of methods and structures to help us identify possible unintended consequences before we act and to enable us to better cope with them as they arise.

"Very positive and in tune with our needs today." LEO BUSCAGLIA Alan Cohen's story is an inspiration. From his roots as an Orthodox Jew, he took a mind-expanding tour of the teachings of Jesus, Ram Dass, Zen, Jung, the Esalen Institute, and Einstein, to name a few. In this extraordinary collection of lyrical, challenging essays, Cohen synthesizes what he has learned from these masters, and shares his journey with all of us. He discusses overcoming limitations, creating fulfilling relationships, tuning into the flow of life, transformation, finding a personal path, and the greatest gift of all, love. Read it straight through, or essay by essay, for daily meditations on the mysteries of God, love, and the spiritual path.

Set in the 1960s, Judy Fong Bates’s much-talked-about debut novel is the story of a young girl, the daughter of a small Ontario town’s solitary Chinese family, whose life is changed over the course of one summer when she learns the burden of secrets. Through Su-Jen’s eyes, the hard life behind the scenes at the Dragon Café unfolds. As Su-Jen’s father works continually for a better future, her mother, a beautiful but embittered woman, settles uneasily into their new life. Su-Jen feels the weight of her mother’s unhappiness as Su-Jen’s life takes her outside the restaurant and far from the customs of the traditional past. When Su-Jen’s half-brother arrives, smouldering under the responsibilities he must bear as the dutiful Chinese son, he forms an alliance with Su-Jen’s mother, one that will have devastating consequences. Written in spare, intimate prose, Midnight at the Dragon Café is a vivid portrait of a childhood divided by two cultures and touched by unfulfilled longings and unspoken secrets.

Sir Mort engineers a class trip to a home for "olde" knights. But when the lads and lasses arrive, they discover that Sir Lancelot has decided he’s had enough of hacking and whacking and is ready for retirement himself. Find out how Erica (his most fervent admirer), Wiglaf, and the rest of the gang get Lancelot back in action, battling the feared Grizzlegore, the world’s oldest living dragon.

In Living with the Dragon, Jason Lee gives an honest and brave account of his life. As a Canadian-born Chinese man in his forties, Lee was raised in a household rife with physical and emotional abuse. He recounts stories of torment, angry outbursts, and beatings in his home that made him feel humiliated and unloved from a young age. Bullying at school and a complicated relationship with his brother who has schizophrenia added to Lee's feelings of worthlessness and shame. With stunning vulnerability, Lee confesses to his own emotionally abusive behaviour as an adult. He also shares about his personal struggles with depression and anxiety that he only came to realize in recent years. Through the hard work of counselling, group therapy, meditation, and practices of self-compassion, Lee has turned his life around in remarkable ways. In Living with the Dragon, he shares lessons and tools for breaking the chain of abuse from one generation to the next. As Lee writes, "There is no greater feeling than liberation and being able to live your most honest self." This powerful memoir will embolden you to find freedom and healing by facing the truth of your own inner life.

When Al first came home with Dad, he was harmless and fun, but it soon became apparent that what seemed like fun could quickly get out of control. This story is a help to anyone trying to understand or discuss the heartbreak and hope of a family dealing with substance abuse or any life-controlling issue.

“Filled with enchantment and intrigue” (Toronto Star) and “a great choice for a book club” (The Huffington Post), Dragon Springs Road takes readers on an evocative journey a century in the past and half a world away. In early-twentieth-century Shanghai, an ancient imperial dynasty collapses, a new government struggles to life and two girls are bound together in a friendship that will be tested by duty, honour and love. Abandoned in the courtyard of a once-lavish estate outside Shanghai, seven-year-old Jialing learns she is zazhong—Eurasian—and thus doomed to face a lifetime of contempt from both Chinese and Europeans. The Yang family, new owners of the estate, reluctantly take her in as a servant. As Jialing grows up, her only allies are Anjuin, the eldest Yang daughter, and Fox, an animal spirit who has lived in the courtyard for more than three hundred years. But when a young English girl appears and befriends the lonely orphan—and then mysteriously vanishes—Jialing’s life takes an unexpected turn. As Jialang grows into womanhood during the tumultuous early years of the Chinese republic, she must find a way to survive political intrigue, jealousy, forbidden love and even murder. Through every turn she is guided, both by Fox and by her own strength of spirit, away from the shadows of her past toward a very different fate. “Rich with detail and a fascinating interplay between the spiritual and earthly realms, Chang’s second novel explores whether it is possible to overcome your past” (Booklist).