We age this way, acquired lives,word by word, each learned, howtraditions grow, by nature we come to beself-practiced tellers of … More

Johnny Carson, television talk-show host and stand-up comedian, famously was often caught sneaking drags of a cigarette after coming back … More

He always introduced himself as such, but if you stopped to think about it, David Chan III did not look … More

I’d just been in Shanghai a month earlier.  There, most people know what decaffeinated coffee is.  Here in Seoul, fewer seem to … More

Let’s drink a toast to halves wholed,one round perfect sphere of ustwo magnetic in our pull to one,toward a singularity, … More

Chan’s superiors deemed it necessary, so he was assigned mandatory sessions with the department shrink.  They said they were worried about … More

“Eventually, everything will be funny.” We were eating breakfast in the Palmer House. “It’s no gimme, it won’t just happen.” … More

It did not surprise him, this sea of black suits, pouring out of the Methodist church doors.  The limos and Mercedes … More

the sound of water may always be the sound of waterthe sound of wind, windbut the sound of silence is … More

It surprised no one, given Victor Yamamoto’s active dislike for people, that the church was nearly empty.  Present were his mother … More

Oh yes I do, I do understand you now,and I believe.  Don’t you hear that scratchof my pen, running wild and … More

“Uncle Snuff, why so shocked?  We all knew there’d be a vacuum to fill once Byung and Jason were dead.  Richard Han … More

“I think we’ll postpone the exam. Instead of Friday, we’ll have it Monday.” There was a general collective groan. “That … More

The two met at Kang Yu’s Kahala Beach estate.  They sat out back, under a nearly full moon, sipping whiskey. “In … More

We who hold the bait, tempt you, wait for you, blind,to sniff the air, reach for it, then we withdraw … More

Victor Yamamoto was hardly an enigma.  That he was sour on life was well known.  Everyone assumed that much of his attitude … More

Images of his son and grandson passed through Yu Kang-Ho’s mind. “Who?” he asked. “Victor Yamamoto killed Jason.  Byung took care … More

We are nervous for always meeting nowwith not much more soothing music, we tryto fill the awkward moment that comeswith … More

With the war ending and the threat of a nuclear holocaust dancing in their heads as the Cold War came … More

I was in 4th-grade, old enough to know what death was, but not enough to know what it meant, I … More