conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a book titled In the Shadow of the Cypress about Upbeat with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: "Upbeat, captivating, provocative, and classy, the author's adventure is as tonic as a breath of fresh sea air."
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me a description for a book titled In the Shadow of the Cypress about Vietnam, Known, Soundless with the genre: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author began his career in the 1960s as a combat photographer in Vietnam. Known best for his short stories, his collection Down to the Soundless Sea won critical praise. He lives in California with his wife Gail.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Add another sentence about Along, American, writing, producing.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author began his career in the 1960s as a combat photographer in Vietnam. Known best for his short stories, his collection Down to the Soundless Sea won critical praise. Along with his writing and producing obligations, the author is in demand as a public speaker where he lectures on American literature, creative writing, and the communication arts. He lives in California with his wife Gail.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first five paragraphs for this book.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: In the Shadow of the Cypress
  WHEN LUKE AND ROBERT AT last published their work, it caused an international tremor that would ripple through academic circles for years. And, of course, they got more than their fifteen minutes of fame. They were hounded for interviews by every conceivable news organization and invited to lecture about their discoveries everywhere. The Chinese press, both mainland and otherwise, camped out at their doors, and they were even invited to go to China to deliver lectures to university scholars, which they did, if only to avoid the domestic breed of hyenas.
  Then, as might be expected under the circumstances, all kinds of people came out of the woodwork with claims of knowing where the treasures were hidden. But they were proved wrong in every instance. The whereabouts of Zhou Man's stone testament and his beautiful jade seal were never discovered, but Dr. Gilbert's papers became world famous. Luke hoped that somehow this turn of events would have pleased the old scholar.
  LUKE WENT ON TO CREATE another sensation with his shark-repelling surfboards, and he profited far beyond his expectations. But his greatest reward came in knowing that perhaps he'd saved the lives of many of his fellow surfing enthusiasts around the world.
  Robert Wu garnered two more doctorates before he became totally bored with academic achievements. He at last bowed to his father's desire to have him join the firm. He went on to be voted his father's successor, and thus found he'd become immensely wealthy and powerful, which bored him even more. But in the end, Robert's father didn't get everything his own way. To everyone's surprise, and especially Luke's, Mr. Lawrence H. Wu's only son fell for, courted, and eventually married the lovely Françoise Nuygen, and they soon produced twin boys. This turn of events made his father relatively happy, though he had really wanted his only son to marry a nice Chinese girl.
  And every May 10, which they counted as the anniversary of their first meeting, Luke and Robert met for dinner at the Great Kahn. They ate handsomely, drank expensive brandy, and reminisced about their adventures and accomplishments. They always ended the evening with a toast to that illustrious explorer Admiral Zhou Man, the venerable patron of their greatest success.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me four more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: LUKE WENT ON TO CREATE another sensation with his shark-repelling surfboards, and he profited far beyond his expectations. But his greatest reward came in knowing that perhaps he'd saved the lives of many of his fellow surfing enthusiasts around the world.
  Robert Wu garnered two more doctorates before he became totally bored with academic achievements. He at last bowed to his father's desire to have him join the firm. He went on to be voted his father's successor, and thus found he'd become immensely wealthy and powerful, which bored him even more. But in the end, Robert's father didn't get everything his own way. To everyone's surprise, and especially Luke's, Mr. Lawrence H. Wu's only son fell for, courted, and eventually married the lovely Françoise Nuygen, and they soon produced twin boys. This turn of events made his father relatively happy, though he had really wanted his only son to marry a nice Chinese girl.
  And every May 10, which they counted as the anniversary of their first meeting, Luke and Robert met for dinner at the Great Kahn. They ate handsomely, drank expensive brandy, and reminisced about their adventures and accomplishments. They always ended the evening with a toast to that illustrious explorer Admiral Zhou Man, the venerable patron of their greatest success.
  Luke never married Rosie. She eventually dumped him for a successful orthopedic surgeon she had met at a medical conference. Luke was not particularly disturbed by her decision, for he intrinsically knew that their differing interests and ambitions would eventually lead to an emotional breach of some kind. Instead, Luke fell for, and married, a beautiful blond champion surfer from Santa Cruz named Gail Lightfoot. They had met over the Internet when she had written to ask about the validity of rumors she had heard concerning his shark-repelling surfboard. She then traveled to Monterey to meet the inventor personally. Once convinced that Luke's credentials and scientific principles were sound, she had courageously offered to test his electronically rigged surfboard in the shark-infested waters off South Africa, where she was soon scheduled to participate in an international competition.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Reverse the sentences.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Once convinced that Luke's credentials and scientific principles were sound, she had courageously offered to test his electronically rigged surfboard in the shark-infested waters off South Africa, where she was soon scheduled to participate in an international competition.. She then traveled to Monterey to meet the inventor personally. They had met over the Internet when she had written to ask about the validity of rumors she had heard concerning his shark-repelling surfboard. Instead, Luke fell for, and married, a beautiful blond champion surfer from Santa Cruz named Gail Lightfoot. Luke was not particularly disturbed by her decision, for he intrinsically knew that their differing interests and ambitions would eventually lead to an emotional breach of some kind. She eventually dumped him for a successful orthopedic surgeon she had met at a medical conference.
  Luke never married Rosie. They always ended the evening with a toast to that illustrious explorer Admiral Zhou Man, the venerable patron of their greatest success. They ate handsomely, drank expensive brandy, and reminisced about their adventures and accomplishments.
  And every May 10, which they counted as the anniversary of their first meeting, Luke and Robert met for dinner at the Great Kahn. This turn of events made his father relatively happy, though he had really wanted his only son to marry a nice Chinese girl. Wu's only son fell for, courted, and eventually married the lovely Françoise Nuygen, and they soon produced twin boys. Lawrence H. To everyone's surprise, and especially Luke's, Mr. But in the end, Robert's father didn't get everything his own way. He went on to be voted his father's successor, and thus found he'd become immensely wealthy and powerful, which bored him even more. He at last bowed to his father's desire to have him join the firm.
  Robert Wu garnered two more doctorates before he became totally bored with academic achievements. But his greatest reward came in knowing that perhaps he'd saved the lives of many of his fellow surfing enthusiasts around the world.LUKE WENT ON TO CREATE another sensation with his shark-repelling surfboards, and he profited far beyond his expectations
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last five paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A well-tanned Miss Lightfoot returned three weeks later with a second-place silver medal, and potential orders for sixty-five shark-rigged boards. A month later, while the couple surfed the poststorm waves off Lover's Point, Luke plucked up the courage to propose marriage. Gail said she was truly flattered, but coyly strung him out for two months just to see how he would react. When she eventually discovered that Luke was just as tenacious and patient as she was, Gail agreed to a formal engagement. Luke marked the blissful occasion by presenting her with a platinum ring set with sea green diamonds to match her eyes. They were married in Pacific Grove three months later.
  Luke often said that marrying Gail was the most propitious and enlightened thing he had ever done. And as passion's destiny would have it, they ultimately produced two lovely, towheaded girls name Olivia and Sophie.
  Luke eventually became a full professor at Stanford, a position he could easily afford because Gail took over the business and eventually made them both very wealthy. After several shark attacks on surfers who had fallen off their boards, Luke finally decided that the Australian diver/inventor who had first designed the shark-repellent device was correct in attaching the current generator to the surfer and not the board. However, this didn't faze Luke one bit. He just moved one step sideways and conceived of a method of attaching an enhanced version of his watertight devices to the undersides of inflatable life rafts. He even adapted a model to be easily retrofitted to the existing survival rafts used by military pilots and commercial airlines. After that, the money just seemed to roll in all by itself. Luke and Gail even received several prestigious commendations from the United States Navy and the Marine Corps. Not to mention a whole wall of impressive plaques from the airline pilots associations of twelve countries, and the naval and air services of six more. They also received testimonials from whole fishing fleets, and enough smoked salmon, smoked whitefish, and frozen crabmeat to open a Broadway deli.
  EVERY FEBRUARY 6, ON THE eve of the lunar New Year, a small group of Chinese elders secretly gather in Monterey. They are all direct descendants of men who had met upon the same mission and in the same place for a hundred and two years. In the dead of night, at precisely eleven o'clock, they secretly make their way to a young cypress tree overlooking the bay. The tree itself is but a little older than the quiet ceremony they then perform. Incense sticks are lit and placed in an ancient copper urn filled with sand from China Point. A libation of gold-infused rice wine is gently poured at the base of the tree, and small strips of gold-edged, red rice paper, upon which many prayers of benediction have been inscribed, are burned in another ancient bronze bowl. The smoke carries these prayers to Heaven. The ashes are then reverentially sprinkled around the tree with the ceremonial clapping of hands, three times.
  At the conclusion of this simple ceremony a special prayer is said for the illustrious spirit of their benefactor, Dr. Lao-Hong, whose intrinsic sense of integrity and justice, undeterred even in the face of conflicting clan loyalty, had been instrumental in making this auspicious and honored observance possible. The elders then quietly depart in the firm knowledge that they have kept faith with the spirit of their ancestors, and honored the long-departed hero of their race, Admiral Zhou Man. In this way they confidently appreciate that his blessings have been secured for another year of hopeful prosperity. These faithful gentlemen, or their assigned heirs, will gather at this very spot, on the same date and time, for as long as the memory of the esteemed admiral and his intrepid sailors lives in the hearts of their wide-ranging countrymen. And as far as these venerable elders are concerned, that will be for as long as subsequent generations and reverential commemoration allow, or as long as Admiral Zhou Man's treasure rests undisturbed beneath the bent and weathered cypress overlooking his Bay of Whales.