By Ann-Marie Stillion

To Be the Poet, by Maxine Hong Kingston, published by Harvard University Press, 2002. I had the privilege of listening to Kingston read from this book of poems, drawings and musings during her visit to Seattle two weeks ago. She told us about the places and circumstances in which many of the poems were written. Throughout her talk, she stressed that she was having fun!

The poems themselves are not only good writing, but a kind of personal prescription for the development of wisdom. Poetry, Kingston said, has become an antidote and companion to the hard work of prose writing. I especially enjoyed how she moves from mundane tasks like selling her house to the loftiness of imagining peace in her poetry. Somehow, in the masterful hands of this writer, these disparate activities become whole.

This first book of poetry by the author is also a sort of workbook of instructions for the creative, and I would highly recommend it to other writers and artists as well as those who love words.

Kingston came to national prominence in 1976 with The Woman Warrior, and will continue her path of prose works next year with the release of The Fifth Book of Peace.


The Cat and the Tao, translated, illustrated and edited by Kwong Kuen Shan, published by Atria Books, 2002. This small book could be overlooked easily. Small and a short 86 pages, it is part of a genre of books often used as polite presents or sort of ãlongä greeting cards. Although the title seems deliberately cute and forced, I was quietly drawn into the pages by not only its remarkable drawings but also the authorâs introduction. Shan said that cats ãfoundä her and, in a way, even ãmasteredä her. While the author was looking for a new subject, a neighborhood stray became a teacher, model and source of inspiration, leading to the creation of this book.

The drawings are traditional in nature but range from quick sketches to more finished and composed imagery. She uses an abundance of Chinese seals throughout to reinforce her visual and written meditations on all sorts of subjects from friendship to stress. A gift for cat lovers but also for art lovers, I found myself able to stay engaged with her feline portraits in the same way I enjoy looking at fine art in a museum.

Children of the Moon: Discover Your Childâs Personality Through Chinese Horoscopes, by Theodora Lau, published by Quill, 2002. Part-child-rearing book, part-philosophy, Children of the Moon shows parents how to work with their childrenâs tendencies, rather than mold them into some predetermined model. With just enough charts to get her point across, Lau takes the reader through a maze of ascendants, birth orders and corresponding Western astrological signs. She also uses stories and proverbs to convey her message.

Lau, who wrote the original Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes in 1979, authored her latest book after a dedicated reader told her that she used Lauâs writing to guide her as she raised her children.

This astrology book succeeds where many books of its type fail ÷ in that it is actually very readable and clear. This is a good source for understanding Chinese astrology, even for those of us who are neither youths nor parents.