Introduction; The Mystery of Ecclesiastic Art Glass; The Story of Bovard Studio Inc.; A Mother's Love; Painted Medallions, Borders, and Rosettes; God's Test of Faith; Salvaging History; Our Committee Has An Artist; West Angeles Cathedral Project; Creating Stained Glass Windows: An Overview; Design Development Process; Glass Selection and Fabrication; Butterfly Dreams Take Flight; Structure and Reinforcing; Protective Exterior Covering; Essential Elements For A Long Lasting Window; A Lot on Plum Street; An English Country Chapel; A Tapestry of lnspirations; Category 4 Hurricane Iniki; Cleaning and Maintenance of Leaded Windows; Faceted Glass (Dalle de Verre) Windows; St Peter's Church in Ruins; A Bona Fide Artistic Challenge; A Small Brotherhood; Masonic Symbols in Glass; Eastern Visions of the Soul; A Tiffany Window Restoration; The Stained Glass Design Gallery; The Faceted Glass Ga1lery; The Rose Window Gallery; Index.
Khanh Ha was born in Hue, the former capital of Vietnam. During his teen years, he began writing short stories which won several awards in Vietnamese adolescent magazines. He graduated from Ohio University (Athens, Ohio) with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. Flesh is his first novel. He is at work on another novel.
"Good historical fiction allows a reader to enter another time and
place. However, Khanh Ha's Flesh goes further, not only creating a
rich portrait of late nineteenth century northern Vietnam, but
presenting a hero who is entirely a product of that world, violent
and tender. His story is more than a period piece. It is grounded
in his own loyalties, his desires, and his slow understanding of
the secrets of the human heart."I was particularly impressed by the
voice of the narrator--and he really was a hero--and the way we
learned about life then without being told, just by inhabiting his
consciousness. The vivid descriptions of things, like the door in
that courtyard that keeps appearing, keep coming back to me. I also
loved that yellow monkey! But really, none of it could be real to
me unless it was tied to that narrator." -- Simone Zelitch, author
of The Confession of Jack Straw, Moses in Sinai, and Louisa
"Set in late-nineteenth-century ancestor-worshipping Annam (later
to become Viet Nam), Flesh tells the remarkable story of one boy's
quest to reunite his bandit father's skull with his bones and bury
them together in 'a lucky hole.' The horrifying opening scene of
his father's beheading is so realistic it make me feel I was in the
crowd, watching."The story continues with a fascinating journey
laced with authentic details of a time and place that used to be, a
world of geomancers, spirit dancers, river pirates and opium
addicts, of simmering resentment toward converted Catholics,
ancient cures like the dead eel rotting in a smallpox victim's bed,
a world where magical burial holes bring fortune to the dead one's
children."Author Khanh Ha is particularly good with sounds an
smells: from sweat and rain and incense and the smacking of dry
lips, to the sounding of the village gong and spicy odor of beetles
in the forest."Anyone looking for a gripping adventure story
combined with a painless history lesson is going to love this
novel." -- Joanna Catherine Scott, author of Indochina's Refugees:
Oral Histories from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and Charlie: a novel
of Vietnam.
"'Flesh' is a strong addition to any historical fiction collection,
much recommended." -- Midwest Book Review
"In this dark, violent, and poetic saga, with disjointed cinematic
vignettes that make it often read like a screenplay, characters are
not who they seem. While this makes for a thrilling finale, what
lingers . . . is Ha's descriptive prose." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Readers who enjoy epic sagas set in faraway lands will find
absorbing satisfaction." -- Library Journal
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