Insect Musicians & Cricket Champions: A Cultural History of Singing Insects in China & Japan

by Lisa Gail Ryan

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0835125769
• ISBN13: 9780835125765
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: China Books & Periodicals
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

*****HIGHLY INFORMATIVE*****

An amazing look into Asian - particularly Chinese - Culture. This is a fascinating and beautiful book with copious color and B & W photographs and which also has: -A comprehensive index -A good glossary -An excellent bibliography -A good list of sources - for general info and for those who want to try their hand at having a pet cricket! CONCLUSION: The subtitle - A Cultural History of Singing Insects in China and Japan - is not at all misleading; indeed, Ms. Ryan is quite modest in that as this book is quite comprehensive.

Amazing and Fascinating--Almost Unbelievable, but True!

Until I found this book, I had no idea to what great and amazing extent crickets are revered, bred and cared for as pets in Asia. Some are raised for their "musicianship", others for their fighting skills, employed in to-the-death matches like fighting cocks and fighting dogs. Then there is the amazing amount of cricket paraphernalia, both antique and modern that is on display here in the many photos that accompany the text. This book reprints in their near entirety, two nearly century old, classic books about crickets, adding modern photographs and other information. This is not dry "insect science", this book is about the culture (or perhaps "cult"!) of the cricket as practiced in Asian countries, where as much care and feeding and love is applied to these insects as Americans devote to their dogs and cats. Did you have any idea that cricket owners can diagnose various illnesses of their crickets and nurse them to health with the help of special diets? It's true, and you can read about it here, along with many other fascinating details. Did you know that some cricket owners apply wax to their cricket's wings to sweeten the sound of their song? Read all about it here. If I didn't know for sure this book is factual, I could believe it was some satirical Monty Python-esque send-up of extreme pet owners. But these are facts and if more people would read this book, I would not be at all surprised if the culture of crickets as pets would spread significantly within the United States.