Fiction. Poetry. Asian American Studies. In the technicolor timewarp called Hell, Hong Kong, wannabe cowgirl La La is hellbent on realizing her dream to be a folk-singing sensation, even if it means surviving a dysfunctional relationship with her kidnapper, Ren, who is just hellbent. Ren thinks he'll win, but La La, dead or alive, always wins. "Moving between the explicit descriptions of the Marquis de Sade and the implicit ironies of Nabokov, these pieces are excruciatingly compelling, so infernal as they are related in languages variously pornographic and desperately, radically tender. Short's brilliant tragicomedy can be read as a metaphor for China's dynamic with American culture or the story of any determined enterprising youth whose eager 'bloody head' under a bumbling tyrant's 'boot is bent.' A bold, imaginative, timely work from a courageous and complex thinker." Heidi Lynn Staples "Heated & heartbreaking, CHINA COWBOY charms like wedding cans, flesh-filled, on tarmac. This car (perhaps an old, long Cadillac with longhorns glaring & charred) contains a man, Ren: a 'family man' or 'something commensurate.' La-La: our heroine. & the driver, guiding us expertly over the bluegrass, bodies & Time Warps of Hell, child abuse, power & Country Music is Kim Gek Lin Short." Rauan Klassnik "CHINA COWBOY is more hydra than hybrid, a slim monster sprouting new directions for form, narrative, culture, and identity. Meanwhile, everything it bites comes to vicious, gorgeous life." Christian TeBordo"

Published for devotees of the cowboy and the West, American Cowboy covers all aspects of the Western lifestyle, delivering the best in entertainment, personalities, travel, rodeo action, human interest, art, poetry, fashion, food, horsemanship, history, and every other facet of Western culture. With stunning photography and you-are-there reportage, American Cowboy immerses readers in the cowboy life and the magic that is the great American West.

The day Monica learns that her loveable, brilliant three-year-old son, Wills, has Autism, she takes him to buy an aquarium. It's the first in a string of impulsive trips to the pet store to buy animals as a distraction from the uncontrollable, crushing reality of Wills's diagnosis. But while Wills diligently tends to the growing menagerie, what he really wants is a puppy. And one Christmas, when Wills is six, Cowboy Carol Lawrence joins their family. Like all dynamic duos, Cowboy and Wills complement each other perfectly. Wills is cautious, fastidious, and irresistibly tender-hearted. Cowboy, a rambunctious golden retriever, is over-eager, affectionate, and impulsive. And from the moment Cowboy enters their lives, Monica sees her son step a little further into the world. Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his classmates in kindergarten is sharing stories during morning circle. With Cowboy, he finds the courage to invite kids over for play dates, overcomes his debilitating fear of water to swim alongside her in the family pool, and, after years of gentle coaxing, Wills finally sleeps in his own bed with Cowboy's paws draped across his small chest. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them -- about devotion, about loyalty, and about never giving up.

This successor volume to China beyond the Headlines takes the reader even farther beyond the "front stage" to explore a China few Westerners have seen. The contributors argue that the great gap between what specialists understand and the general public believes has led to distorted and potentially dangerous misunderstandings of the most powerful emerging player on the global stage. Seeking to bridge that gap, a group of prominent scholars, journalists, and activists challenge readers to move past the typical images of China presented by the media and to think about the common problems shared by China and the United States. In an entirely new set of essays, they explore such critical issues as environmental degradation, nationalism, unemployment, film and literature, news reporting, the Internet, sex tourism, and the costs of the economic boom to vividly portray the complexity of life in contemporary China and how surprisingly often it speaks to the American experience. Contributions by: Bei Dao, Susan D. Blum, Timothy Cheek, Martin Fackler, John Gittings, Howard Goldblatt, Peter Hays Gries, Sandra Teresa Hyde, Lionel M. Jensen, Tong Lam, Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Jonathan Noble, Tim Oakes, David Ownby, Judith Shapiro, Timothy B. Weston, and Xiao Qiang

In the years before World War I, Montana cowboy Fred Barton was employed by Czar Nicholas II to help establish a horse ranch--the largest in the world--in Siberia to supply the Russian military. Barton later assembled a group of American rodeo stars and drove horses across Mongolia for the war-lords of northern China, creating a 250,000 acre ranch in Shanxi Province. Along the way, Barton became part of an unofficial U.S. intelligence network in the Far East, bred a new type of horse from Russian, Mongolian and American stock and promoted the lifestyle of the open range cowboy. Returning to America, he married one of the wealthiest widows in the Southwest and hobnobbed with Western film stars at a time when Hollywood was constructing the modern myth of the Old West, just as open range cowboy life was disappearing.

A tribute to the artistic and entrepreneurial spirit of Thomas Molesworth--a Wyoming furniture maker who, 60 years ago, outfitted famous western lodges and dude ranches--this fascinating book also introduces contemporary craftspeople who are leading the pack in today's Western revival. 140 photographs

Published for devotees of the cowboy and the West, American Cowboy covers all aspects of the Western lifestyle, delivering the best in entertainment, personalities, travel, rodeo action, human interest, art, poetry, fashion, food, horsemanship, history, and every other facet of Western culture. With stunning photography and you-are-there reportage, American Cowboy immerses readers in the cowboy life and the magic that is the great American West.

China's breakneck industrialization is placing it on a collision course with the entire world. Tomorrow's China Wars will be fought over everything from decent jobs, livable wages, and leading-edge technologies to strategic resources such as oil, copper, and steel--even food, water, and air. Economist Navarro previews all these potential conflicts, and reveals the urgent, radical decisions that must be made to avoid catastrophe. China's thirst for oil is driving nuclear proliferation in Iran, genocide in the Sudan, even Japan's remilitarization. Navarro reveals China's shocking role in the drug trade and how its flesh trade may help trigger tomorrow's worst AIDS crisis; how China has become the world's most ruthless imperialist, how it is promoting global environmental disaster, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, how this nuclear superpower and pirate nation may be spiraling toward internal chaos.--From publisher description.

Most of the adventure written in this book, really occurred. After slavery was abolished, many Negroes joined up to fight with the Union army to help win the war over slavery. At first, they were not accepted, but later at the loss of many white soldiers, the Negroes were allowed to join the army, but only in a segregated regiment called the colored troops. After the Civil War was won, the colored calvary was born. They were called the 9th and 10th calvary of the United States Army. They fought Indians, chased outlaws, and escorted settlers across the plains. The colored calvary was given tough and dangerous assignments; but they fought magnificently and won every fight they were engaged in; with few or no casualties. The colored troops were very skillful and courageous; the Indians respected them as brave fearless warriors. They were given the name Buffalo Soldiers, because the buffalo is sacred and highly respected in the Indian Nation. Also, the Indians thought the Negroes hair was similar to the kinky, curly hair of the buffalo. The Seminole Negro Indians were the best scouts and trackers in the country, and many were drafted into the Army. It is recorded that many Negro soldiers were decorated highly for bravery, and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1847, Jacob Washington was born a slave and was freed during the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. At the age of sixteen, Jacob left the plantation and traveled west to Texas, where he fulfilled his dream as a cowboy. Jacob got a job on the Circle (G) Ranch, working for Bill Goodman as a wrangler. Jacob changed his name to Jake, and received lots of experience. He helped push cattle northward up the Chisholm Trail into Oklahoma (Indian Territory) and on into Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas.

Published for devotees of the cowboy and the West, American Cowboy covers all aspects of the Western lifestyle, delivering the best in entertainment, personalities, travel, rodeo action, human interest, art, poetry, fashion, food, horsemanship, history, and every other facet of Western culture. With stunning photography and you-are-there reportage, American Cowboy immerses readers in the cowboy life and the magic that is the great American West.