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Asian American Religious Cultures
 ISBN: 9781598843309Price: 218.00  
Volume: Dewey: Grade Min: Publication Date: 2015-09-01 
LCC: 2014-046610LCN: BL2525.A845 2015Grade Max: Version:  
Contributor: Lee, Jonathan H. X.Series: American Religious Cultures Ser.Publisher: ABC-CLIO, LLCExtent: 1120 
Contributor: Matsuoka, FumitakaReviewer: Carmen HendershottAffiliation: The New SchoolIssue Date: June 2016 
Contributor: Yee, Edmond    

As the first encyclopedia solely devoted to Asian American religion and religious cultures, this title fills a real gap in the literature. A valuable but older, adjunct reference title isAsian Religions in America: A Documentary History, ed. by Thomas Tweed and Stephen Prothero (CH, Jul'99, 36-6232), which provides primary documents on the topic. The new encyclopedia assembled by editor Lee (San Francisco State Univ.) and colleagues presents substantive essays followed by A-Z entries, with a generous bibliography. It is interesting to note that the individuals and movements that many in the US would associate with Asian American religion, such as Swami Muktananda (Siddha Yoga) or Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Dynamic Meditation), for example, are not included among the entries devoted to individual figures; another prominent religious figure, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, is discussed in the entry on his Unification Church, but likewise does not merit an entry of his own. The focus is on the mainstream Asian American religions, their associated leaders or founders, and adherents or practitioners.