The Minor Arts of Daily Life is an account of the many ways in which contemporary Taiwanese approach their ordinary existence and activities. It presents a wide range of aspects of day-to-day living to convey something of the world as experienced by the Taiwanese themselves.
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Contributors: Alice Chu, Chien-Juh Gu, David K. Jordan, Paul R. Katz, Chin-Ju Lin, Andrew D. Morris, Marc L. Moskowitz, Scott Simon, Shuenn-Der Yu.
"An excellent contribution."
—China Quarterly (March 2005)
"Eclectic . . . enjoyable and informative." —China Journal (53, 2005)
"This volume offers exciting and detailed accounts." —China Review International (fall 2004)
"A fascinating collection of essays about modern Taiwanese life aimed at college students." —Taipei Times (1 August 2004)
"The book conveys such a rich helping of life in Taiwan that general readers will find much to savor." —Taiwan Business Topics (March 2005)
"The book is explicitly designed for undergraduate courses, and individual chapters can easily be selected separately as course readings. . . . The book is valuable for China scholars seeking to understand Taiwan’s cultural politics, and is also interesting for those familiar with Taiwan who, however, may not be aware of the full history and meaning of many of these phenomena." —Asian Anthropology (4, 2005)
"Offers highly focused but penetrating analyses of different aspects of everyday life in Taiwan particularly that associated with the vibrant and complex popular culture of the island. . . . Each of the essays in this volume takes a specific cultural phenomenon, from baseball teams to Amway sales, as a small window into a place where people live and reveal their believable, if often flawed, humanity." —Joseph R. Allen, University of Minnesota
"A powerful, well-written, and well-designed book that addresses the hidden realities of Taiwanese life." —Murray Rubenstein, City University of New York
Editor: Jordan, David K.; Morris, Andrew D.; Moskowitz, Marc L.;
David K. Jordan is professor of anthropology at the University of California, San Diego.
Andrew D. Morris is assistant professor of history at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Marc L. Moskowitz is associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina.