Search results for ""Author Howard"

UGROW (Urban GROundWater) represents one of the most advanced urban water management tools produced to date and fully integrates all urban water system components including groundwater. It will raise the awareness of the interaction between urban water system components, support management decision-making, and solve a wide range of urban water problems. The model has a sound scientific basis, is computationally efficient, and is supported by outstanding graphics. Developed as part of the sixth Phase of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP-IV), UGROW was tested and refined under a range of demanding urban conditions. Book includes UGROW software CD-ROM and instruction manual.

Read more less

In the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a rock musician was fundamentally different than playing other kinds of music. It was a learned rather than a taught skill. In On Becoming a Rock Musician, sociologist H. Stith Bennett observes what makes someone a rock musician and what persuades others to take him seriously in this role. The book explores how bands form; the backstage and onstage reality of playing in a band; how bands promote themselves and interact with audiences and music professionals like DJs; and the role of performance.

Read more less

Fluid-structure interactions have been well studied over the years but most of the focus has been on high Reynolds number flows, inertially dominated flows where the drag force from the fluid typically varies as the square of the local fluid speed. There are though a large number of fluid-structure interaction problems at low values of the Reynolds number, where the fluid effects are dominated by viscosity and the drag force from the fluid typically varies linearly with the local fluid speed, which are applicable to many current research areas including hydrodynamics, microfluidics and hemodynamics. Edited by experts in complex fluids, Fluid-Structure Interactions in Low-Reynolds-Number Flows is the first book to bring together topics on this subject including elasticity of beams, flow in tubes, mechanical instabilities induced by complex liquids drying, blood flow, theoretical models for low-Reynolds number locomotion and capsules in flow. The book includes introductory chapters highlighting important background ideas about low Reynolds number flows and elasticity to make the subject matter more approachable to those new to the area across engineering, physics, chemistry and biology.

Read more less

The composer Arthur Somervell was also an Inspector of Schools with special responsibility for the teaching of music. His collected writings set forth his philosophy of music education and cast light on musical life between the 1890s and his death in 1937. Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937), composer and educationist, influenced the musical and educational life of England over four decades. Remembered today principally as an accomplished composer of songs and choral works, he also worked for twenty-eight years as one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (HMI), with special responsibility for the teaching of music. Towards the end of his life Somervell gathered together a number of his articles, in whichhe expounds a passionate philosophy of music education, makes candid remarks about musical life and musical education in England, and provides insights into the sometimes bitter debate with Cecil Sharp about folk song. These collected writings have now been prepared for publication by Gordon Cox, together with some unpublished speeches and letters, enabling musicologists and music educators to re-evaluate the significance of Somervell's contribution to the musical and educational life of his time. GORDON COX is senior lecturer in education at the University of Reading.

Read more less

This volume contains a selection of papers from the 21st annual 'Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics' Conference. It addresses the key theme of Political Leadership, Professional Ethics, and the Problem of Dirty Hands. 'Dirty hands' is a somewhat nebulous concept. It may refer to professions whose objectives are so consequential that some ethical violations are considered justifiable. In another sense it might suggest situations where professional obligations might require the performance of deeds that contradict one's own moral beliefs. The term is perhaps most synonymous with political leadership and raises the question: Should leaders ever get their hands dirty? For applied ethicists, recognizing that sometimes there are compelling arguments in favor of certain moral violations is a professional necessity. This volume contains papers on a broad range of issues including discussions of medical ethics, military ethics, domestic political matters, and the very nature of 'professions' themselves. It will be of interest to those interested in politics, as well as those involved in research or training in ethics and professional practice.

Read more less

Palms constitute one of the largest botanical families, and include some of the world’s most important economic plants. They are also unequalled as outdoor and indoor ornamental plants, and include many species that are essential components of the ecosystems of tropical and other warm regions. This book reviews the inter-relationships between palms and insects, emphasising the similarities in different world regions. The host plants, distribution, and bionomics of representative insects are discussed according to their feeding sites on palms (foliage, flowers, fruits, and stems) and their taxonomic groups. Host and distribution records for the most extensively represented insect families on palms are tabulated. Pest management and field techniques are also covered. This book is recommended reading for tropical biologists and agriculturalists, including entomologists, horticulturists and tropical ecologists as well as palm nursery growers, managers and enthusiasts.

Read more less

Beset by enemies on every side and torn by internal divisions, the crusader kingdoms were a hotbed of intrigue, where your greatest ally might be your natural enemy. Because lives and kingdoms often rested on the edge of a sword blade, it was a time when a bold heart and a steady hand would see you far—so long as you watched your back. Here, for the first time, are all seventeen of Harold Lamb’s uncollected crusader stories in one volume. Read now of the fall of kingdoms and the fate of doomed men, of desperate battles and brave comrades, of shrewd maids and scheming nobles. Join Nial O’Gordon, a young crusader riding deep into Asia to forget his past. Venture forth with Sir Robert of Antioch to cross blades with the Mongol hordes. Join King Richard the Lionhearted for his last battle. Stand firm beside Sir John and his Arab friend Khalil against a band of traitors. And sail out with Michael Bearn on a mission of vengeance, as he risks his life to bring down a sultan and his kingdom.

Read more less

"If you want to catch up on some of the best articles written about globalisation since the topic became fashionable several years ago, this reader is the place to start." —The Economist A blue ribbon collection of major articles and position papers on the concept of globalization. By bringing together a number of major thinkers and different perspectives, this book provides a broad introduction to the topic and lays the groundwork for an interdisciplinary collaborative dialogue. Contributors include Kofi Annan, Benjamin Barber, Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington, Robert Kaplan, Paul Kennedy, Walter Lacqueur, Bill McKibben, Lester Thurow, and Jeffrey Sachs.

Read more less

Walter Benjamin's essays on the great French lyric poet Charles Baudelaire revolutionized not just the way we think about Baudelaire, but our understanding of modernity and modernism as well. In these essays, Benjamin challenges the image of Baudelaire as late-Romantic dreamer, and evokes instead the modern poet caught in a life-or-death struggle with the forces of the urban commodity capitalism that had emerged in Paris around 1850. The Baudelaire who steps forth from these pages is the flâneur who affixes images as he strolls through mercantile Paris, the ragpicker who collects urban detritus only to turn it into poetry, the modern hero willing to be marked by modern life in its contradictions and paradoxes. He is in every instance the modern artist forced to commodify his literary production: "Baudelaire knew how it stood with the poet: as a flâneur he went to the market; to look it over, as he thought, but in reality to find a buyer." Benjamin reveals Baudelaire as a social poet of the very first rank.The introduction to this volume presents each of Benjamin's essays on Baudelaire in chronological order. The introduction, intended for an undergraduate audience, aims to articulate and analyze the major motifs and problems in these essays, and to reveal the relationship between the essays and Benjamin's other central statements on literature, its criticism, and its relation to the society that produces it.

Read more less

This book sheds light on religiously motivated extremism and violence in South Asia, a phenomenon which ostensibly poses critical and unique challenges to the peace, security and governance not only of the region, but also of the world at large. The book is distinctive in-so-far as it reexamines conventional wisdom held about religious extremism in South Asia and departs from the literature which centres its analyses on Islamic militancy based on the questions and assumptions of the West’s ‘war on terror’. This volume also offers a comprehensive analysis of new extremist movements and how their emergence and success places existing theoretical frameworks in the study of religious extremism into question. It further examines topical issues including the study of social media and its impact on the evolution and operation of violent extremism. The book also analyses grassroots and innovative non-state initiatives aimed to counter extremist ideologies. Through case studies focusing on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, this collection examines extremist materials, methods of political mobilisation and recruitment processes and maps the interconnected nature of sociological change with the ideological transformations of extremist movements.

Read more less

Nearly every day brings news of another merger or acquisition involving the companies that control our food supply. Just how concentrated has this system become? At almost every key stage of the food system, four firms alone control 40% or more of the market, a level above which these companies have the power to drive up prices for consumers and reduce their rate of innovation. Researchers have identified additional problems resulting from these trends, including negative impacts on the environment, human health, and communities. This book reveals the dominant corporations, from the supermarket to the seed industry, and the extent of their control over markets. It also analyzes the strategies these firms are using to reshape society in order to further increase their power, particularly in terms of their bearing upon the more vulnerable sections of society, such as recent immigrants, ethnic minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status. Yet this study also shows that these trends are not inevitable. Opposed by numerous efforts, from microbreweries to seed saving networks, it explores how such opposition has encouraged the most powerful firms to make small but positive changes.

Read more less

Seventy-five years after the Holocaust, 100,000 Jews live in Germany. Their community is diverse and vibrant, and their mere presence in Germany is symbolically important. In Rebuilding Jewish Life in Germany, scholars of German-Jewish history, literature, film, television, and sociology illuminate important aspects of Jewish life in Germany from 1949 to the present day. In West Germany, the development of representative bodies and research institutions reflected a desire to set down roots, despite criticism from Jewish leaders in Israel and the Diaspora. In communist East Germany, some leftist Jewish intellectuals played a prominent role in society, and their experience reflected the regime’s fraught relationship with Jewry. Since 1990, the growth of the Jewish community through immigration from the former Soviet Union and Israel have both brought heightened visibility in society and challenged preexisting notions of Jewish identity in the former “land of the perpetrators.”

Read more less

This groundbreaking title brings together a critical selection of key papers by the Nobel Memorial Laureates in Economics that have helped shape the development and present state of economics. The editors have organised this comprehensive series by theme and focuses on those Laureates working in the same broad area of study. The careful selection of papers is set in context by an insightful introduction to the Laureates' careers and main published works. This landmark title will be an essential reference for scholars throughout the world.

Read more less

This four-volume Companion to Shakespeare's Works, compiled as a single entity, offers a uniquely comprehensive snapshot of current Shakespeare criticism. Brings together new essays from a mixture of younger and more established scholars from around the world - Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examines each of Shakespeare’s plays and major poems, using all the resources of contemporary criticism, from performance studies to feminist, historicist, and textual analysis. Volumes are organized in relation to generic categories: namely the histories, the tragedies, the romantic comedies, and the late plays, problem plays and poems. Each volume contains individual essays on all texts in the relevant category, as well as more general essays looking at critical issues and approaches more widely relevant to the genre. Offers a provocative roadmap to Shakespeare studies at the dawning of the twenty-first century. This companion to Shakespeare's histories contains original essays on every history play from Henry VI to Henry V as well as fourteen additional articles on such topics as censorship in Shakespeare's histories, the relation of Shakespeare's plays to other dramatic histories of the period, Shakespeare's histories on film, the homoerotics of Shakespeare's history plays, and nation formation in Shakespeare's histories.

Read more less

Ireland at the Polls, 1981, 1982, and 1987: A Study of four General Elections is another in the series of national election studies prepared by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI). Books in the series include volumes on some thirty national democratic elections around the world. Distinguished foreign and American scholars have contributed to the studies.

Read more less

In this lively translation of Wang Chen-ho's ribald satire, a Taiwanese village loses all perspective-and common sense-at the prospect of fleecing a shipload of lusty and lonely American soldiers. A rotund, excitable high school English teacher receives word that 300 GIs are coming from Vietnam for a weekend of R and R. He persuades the owners of the Big 4 brothels that they will all take in more U.S. dollars if the pleasure girls can speak a little English; his plan is to train fifty specially selected prostitutes in a "Crash Course for Bar Girls." The teacher, Dong Siwen (his name means "refinement") enlists the eager support of local Councilman Qian and the managers of such elite establishments as Night Fragrances and Valley of Joy. "If the girls learn how to say three things in English- Hello, How are you? and Want to do you-know-what? everything is A-OK!" But what begins as a simple plan to teach a few English phrases quickly becomes absurdly elaborate: courses will include an "Introduction to American Culture," a crash course on global etiquette, and a workshop in personal hygiene taught by Dr. "Venereal" Wang. Siwen, a virgin himself, dreads any bad P.R. from "Saigon Rose" (slang for a particularly virulent strain of v. d.) and so demands the finest conveniences and conditions for "servicing the Yanks." "Sanitation above all...Do you think U.S. dollars will float out of their pockets in crummy rooms like that?" The Americans must not leave with a poor impression of Taiwan; not only Dong Siwen and the Big 4 but the entire nation would lose face. One of the most carefully wrought narratives in contemporary Chinese literature, Rose, Rose, I Love You will appeal not only to readers of fiction but also to those interested in Taiwanese identity and the effects of Westernization on Asian society.

Read more less

The Oxford Guide to Middle High German is the most comprehensive self-contained treatment of Middle High German available in English. It covers the language, literature, history, and culture of German in the period from 1050 to 1350 and is designed for entry-level readers, advanced study, teaching, and reference. The book includes a large sample of texts, not only from Classical works such as Erec, the Nibelungenlied, Parzival, and Tristan, but also from mystical writing, chronicles, and legal documents; the selection represents all major dialects and the full time span of the period. The volume begins with an introduction that defines Middle High German linguistically, geographically, and chronologically. Chapter 2 then provides a detailed exploration of the grammar, covering sounds and spelling, inflectional morphology, syntax, and lexis. Each section in this chapter begins with a summary of the main points, followed by detailed paragraphs for in-depth study and reference. Chapter 3 deals with versification, discussing metre, rhyme, lines of verse in context, and verse forms, and includes practical tips for scansion. Chapter 4 offers an account of the political and social structures of Medieval Germany and a survey of the principal types of texts that originated in the period. The final chapter of the book comprises over forty texts, each placed in context and provided with explanatory footnotes; the first two texts, to be taken together with the introductory grammar sections, are aimed at newcomers. A glossary provides full coverage of the vocabulary appearing in the texts and throughout the book.

Read more less

The development and marketing of drugs since the Second World War offers an exemplary demonstration of the impact of technology on competitiveness in a major industry. While focusing primarily on the market in the USA, this study examines also the activities of European firms, their contribution to the industry's technological evolution and the impact of their entry into the US market. The main concern of the book, however, is to examine all the elements which go to make up the evolving landscape of competition, and their interaction. Thus, the effects of technological change are viewed in the context of changes in the legal and regulatory environment, and in competitive practice. For both the market as a whole and the individual firm this analysis illustrates how competitive positions actually emerge as a result of such interactions. Consistent with this wider view, both the technological and the non-technological competencies of firms are discussed, and the concept of core competence is used extensively to show how individual firms developed and maintained their competitive strengths, as the industry moved from deep-tank fermentation through to the first decade of biotechnology. The final chapter highlights the key role of biotechnology in shaping the future of the industry, at a time of increased regulation and accelerating market driven change.

Read more less

Carlisle City Council redeveloped the Lanes from the mid-1970s, a densely built-up area in the north-east corner of the city’s historic core, crossed by 19 narrow ‘vennels’. These, together with most of the adjacent buildings, were swept away by the construction of the Lanes shopping centre. Previous archaeological work had confirmed complex Roman and medieval deposits on the site, most of which would be destroyed by the development, and many of the buildings were of historical and architectural interest. A programme of archaeological and historical investigation, including building recording, was therefore undertaken, principally funded by Carlisle City Council, the Department of the Environment (now Historic England), and the Manpower Services Commission, completed between 1978 and 1982. Historic England also funded the post-excavation analysis and this publication. The Lanes remains one of the largest and most significant archaeological projects ever undertaken in northern England.The project was split into the northern and southern Lanes, the results of the latter being published in 2000, though it only included a summary of the standing-building survey. This volume, the companion to the 2019 publication of the Roman remains at the northern site, presents the evidence for post-Roman activity. The site appears to have been abandoned by the fifth century, layers of ‘dark earth’ accumulating over the latest Roman levels. Several decades after Carlisle was re-established by William II, narrow burgage plots were created, extending from Scotch Street to the recently constructed city wall. These were intensively occupied from then on and yielded a wealth of evidence for the everyday lives of the inhabitants. Around the mid-thirteenth century, the lanes themselves were created between these plots, probably to improve access, and this distinctive pattern of land-use persisted until the modern redevelopment.

Read more less

A funny book about a girl who can’t keep still. For little movers ages 4 years and up. Sally Ann just has to move. She can’t keep still; it’s not her groove. When her fidgeting causes a mess, she wonders how to fidget less. The principal knows just what to do. She gives Sally Ann a tip or two!

Read more less

For many people the existence of God is by no means a sufficiently clear feature of reality. This problem, the fact of divine hiddenness, has been a source of existential concern and has sometimes been taken as a rationale for support of atheism or agnosticism. In this collection of essays, a distinguished group of philosophers of religion explore the question of divine hiddenness in considerable detail. The issue is approached from several perspectives including Jewish, Christian, atheist and agnostic. There is coverage of the historical treatment of divine hiddenness as found in the work of Maimonides, St. John of the Cross, Jonathan Edwards, Kierkegaard, and various Biblical writers. A substantial introduction clarifies the main problems of and leading solutions to divine hiddenness. Primarily directed at philosophers of religion, theologians, and scholars of religious studies, this collection could also serve as a textbook for upper-level courses in philosophy of religion.

Read more less

“Izzo digs deep into what makes men weep.” —Time Out New York The third and final installment in the remarkable Marseilles Trilogy (Total Chaos, Chourmo), Solea continues Jean-Claude Izzo’s distinctive brand of vibrant crime writing, skillfully evoking a time and place that has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers the world over. Marseilles’ simmering issues of race, politics, organized crime and big business come to a rolling boil. Ex-cop, loner, would-be bon vivant, Fabio Montale is back and his heartfelt cry against the criminal forces devastating his beloved Marseilles provides the touching conclusion to a trilogy that epitomizes the aspirations and ideals of the Mediterranean noir movement.

Read more less

Paris is in mourning. At the firework display marking the Dauphin's marriage to Marie Antoinette, hundreds of people have been injured or crushed to death. Yet not all the victims died accidentally. The tragic incident on Place Louis XV yields a new case for Commissioner Le Floch when a strangled woman is found amongst the other corpses. The investigation takes him to the home of a furrier on Rue Royale where he must deal not just with its curious residents but also face the terrifying forces of the supernatural.

Read more less

The role of organizations in society, the international and multidisciplinary scope of business ethics, and the importance of narrative were concerns that were raised in early volumes of Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations (REIO). That these topics remain of interest is perhaps sobering, and a cause for reflection in the business ethics community. What has the discipline of business ethics achieved over the last 20 years? Where is at in 2019? Where is it headed? Written to celebrate the founding of the series 20 years ago, the volume tackles the tendency to see business as something spawned in recent times. REIO's founders, even in 2001, were contemplating the next phase of business ethics, and saw it linked to both good corporate practice and a multidisciplinary heritage stretching back in time. This volume considers whether scholars, practitioners, and business professionals have been slow to act, or whether the problems are intractable. The role of film and narrative in the development of ethical standards and in business ethics education is addressed. Individual submissions also consider corporate responsibility, redemption, and the nature of boundaries in organizations and personal life. The volume will appeal to academics in the business ethics field and related disciplines.

Read more less

Written specifically for non-specialists, this textbook provides a rigorous and engaging introduction to economics in the context of the business world. Striking the perfect balance between theory and practical application, it draws on interesting real-world examples and case studies – from tech companies to football clubs – to demonstrate the relevance of key economic concepts and theories to business. Clear and insightful, it is packed with current data and innovative features to bring the subject to life for students. This edition is thoroughly updated to include coverage of topics such as market failure, austerity, international trade and Brexit. The ideal textbook for undergraduate students studying economics on business and management degrees and for use on MBA courses. New to this Edition: - Up-to-date coverage of important topics - A new appendix on the Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply (AD-AS) model in Chapter 9 - A wealth of new case studies and examples, for example, on US trade policy, the challenges involved in the UK leaving the EU, and the money supply in India Accompanying online resources for this title can be found at bloomsburyonlineresources.com/economics-for-business-4e. These resources are designed to support teaching and learning when using this textbook and are available at no extra cost.

Read more less

124 short excerpts using a mixture of treble, alto, tenor and bass clefs and various common transpositions. The book concentrates on diatonic harmonic study (including diminished sevenths) and harmonic counterpoint in up to three parts. The exercises train students to take in many staves at once, to see where the principal melody is, to understand harmonies and modulations, to read various clefs, and transpose as necessary.

Read more less

This book collects lectures given in 2015 at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. 550 people from 46 countries, including Waldorf educators, scholars, and professionals in a wide range of fields, came together to work on current educational questions with the goal of deepening our understanding of child and human development.Claus-Peter Röh of the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum summarised the mood at the end of the conference: 'We have tried, with great intensity and candour, to create a community of awareness around various areas of education. The desire to always keep the idea of a whole in mind while discerning the individual was clearly apparent . . . Now we stand before the challenge of further developing our collective work and newly gained insights into the future.'Contributors include Florian Osswald, Ursula Flatters, Susan Weber, Elizabeth Hall, Clara Aerts, Reinoud Engelsman and Claus-Peter Röh.These texts will serve as a basis for further study activity and can contribute to a greater collaborative activity in the Waldorf kindergarten and school movement.

Read more less

Forgiveness has often viewed as a religious obligation but is increasingly being advocated as a means of healing, release and promoting wellbeing. Forgiveness is variously viewed as a duty, virtue or cure, but when it comes to practising forgiveness in real life we find it is always caught up in the complexity of the situation. This book shines a light on how we tend to think about forgiveness in practice, including examples from social work, family therapy, chaplaincy and criminal justice. The book contains many different perspectives on how we think about forgiveness, including overviews of four major religions and reflections from those working in the healing professions. Without advocating a particular approach this book raises important questions around self-forgiveness and forgiving institutions and encourages the reader to think again about forgiveness and how it impacts, challenges and transforms relationships.

Read more less

October 1493, the height of the Renaissance. In a rapidly changing world, Milan flourishes under the leadership of Ludovico il Moro. Those wandering the courtyards of the city’s castle often encounter a man in his forties dressed in long pink robes, lost in his own thoughts. The man lives above his workshop, with his mother and a mischievous little boy whom he dotes on; he doesn’t eat meat, writes from right to left, and struggles to get paid by his employers. His name is Leonardo da Vinci. His fame extends beyond the Alps, to the French court of Charles VIII, whose envoys have been tasked with a secret mission that concerns Leonardo himself, and his most daring designs. When a man is found dead in the Castle’s courtyard, il Moro turns to Da Vinci for help. Though the corpse shows no signs of violence, the death is highly suspicious: rumours of a plague or superstitious explanations need to be disproven quickly. Leonardo is in no position to refuse his master’s request to investigate.

Read more less

The Definitive Jazz & Blues Encyclopedia, now fully updated from the illustrated edition, is the ultimate guide to two musical styles that have fundamentally influenced popular music. Divided into chapters, each covering a different era, the book traces the evolution of jazz and blues from their nineteenth-century African-American origins right through to the present day. Each chapter starts with a Sounds & Sources section, looking at the key developments in the music during that period. This is followed by an A–Z of artists from that era, with more extensive entries on key artists that include recommended classic recordings. With further sections on Styles, covering everything from Ragtime to Bebop and Texas Blues to Rhythm & Blues, and more; and Instruments, all written by a team of experts, this invaluable encyclopedia is comprehensive, easy to use and highly informative.

Read more less

Available open access under CC-BY-NC license. Homelessness is unequivocally devastating. In the UK, people affected by homelessness are ten times more likely to die than their peers in the general population, yet we still miss important opportunities to adequately address the issue. The Centre for Homelessness Impact brings together this urgent book gathering the insights and experiences of leaders in government, academia and the third sector to present new evidence-based strategies to end homelessness. Demonstrating why and how a new movement is needed that embraces data and evidence as integral to ending homelessness effectively, this book provides crucial methods to underpin future policy, practice and funding decisions.

Read more less

During the course of a career that began in the late 1940s, Lenny Bruce challenged the sanctity of organized religion and other societal and political conventions he widened the boundaries of free speech. Critic Ralph Gleason said, So many taboos have been lifted and so many comics have rushed through the doors Lenny opened. He utterly changed the world of comedy."Although Bruce died when he was only forty, his influence on the worlds of comedy, jazz, and satire are incalculable. How to Talk Dirty and Influence People remains a brilliant existential account of his life and the forces that made him the most important and controversial entertainer in history.

Read more less

The Lost Garden is an eloquent portrait of the losses incurred as we struggle to hold on to our passions. The novel begins with the family of Zhu Yinghong, whose father, Zhu Zuyan, was imprisoned in the early days of Chiang Kai-shek's rule. Zhu Zuyan spends his days luxuriating in his Lotus Garden, which he builds according to his own desires. Forever under suspicion, he indulges as much as he can in circumscribed pleasures, though they drain the family fortune. Eventually the entire household is sold, including the Lotus Garden. The novel then swings to modern-day Taipei, where Zhu Yinghong falls for Lin Xigeng, a real estate tycoon and playboy. Their cat-and-mouse courtship builds against the extravagant banquets and decadent entertainments of Taipei's wealthy businessmen. Though the two ultimately marry, their high-styled romance dulls over time, leading to a dangerous, desperate quest to reclaim the enchantment of the Lotus Garden.

Read more less