Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Agony and bliss -- 2. Cryptograms vs. pictograms -- 3. The Great Wall of China and other exotic fables -- 4. Dave Barry vs. the intellectuals -- 5. How would a magician memorize Chinese characters? -- 6. Lord Chesterfield and the Mandarins -- 7. Where do hunches come from? -- 8. In the basement under the Chinese Room -- 9. Converging strands: can ''ideogram'' be salvaged? -- Notes -- References -- Index -- About the Author