The Man from Japan [Hardcover]

Clive James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 1993

Suzuki's reserved, driven, Japanese existence is turned completely upside down when he moves to London and starts sleeping with a glamorous yuppie stockbroker, in a farcical romp that lampoons both Eastern and Western cultures. 12,500 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this rarefied romp, a comic take on the mutual misunderstandings between Japan and the West, Akira Suzuki, a sensitive, shy young Japanese writer and bookseller living in London, has an affair with a suicidal English punk rocker turned freelance journalist by the name of Jane Austen. She's not the only one who finds him enticing: Suzuki's randy landlady and an attractive yuppie stockbroker throw themselves at his feet, and a cultured homosexual journalist with whom he swaps informal language lessons also makes passes at him. Australian-born critic and TV personality James ( Fame in the 20th Century ) has done an uncanny job of getting inside the mind of the Japanese intellectual who forgoes his own highly structured society for the rough-and-tumble of Anglo-Saxon ways. Yet, despite deliciously amusing comic turns around language barriers and mutual East-West misconceptions, this subtle comedy of manners is probably a lot more meaningful for a British audience than for American readers.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Suzuki is a young Japanese writer who has come to London bent on enhancing both his English and his cosmopolitan ease. He leads an austere life as a clerk in a Japanese bookstore. His greatest goal, almost unimaginable, is to own an apartment in Tokyo someday. When he meets a nutty punker named Jane Austen, Suzuki's carefully constructed life is disrupted. He writes a poem about Jane's milky skin, but what most attracts him is her air of danger. When Suzuki employs martial arts skills at a high-society party, his story hits the tabloids: he is hailed as the "Sushi Rambo." Suzuki's puzzled interpretations of the English language and British life contribute to the novel's successful hilarity. A critic, poet, and fiction writer ( Fame in the 20th Century , Random, 1993), James is one of Britain's most popular television personalities. Originally published as Brrm! Brrm! in Great Britain (Jonathan Cape, 1991), The Man from Japan will cross over to American audiences with a jolly good splash.
- Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P . L . , Houston
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 173 pages
• Publisher: Random House (December 28, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679411720
• ISBN-13: 978-0679411727
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,756,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "A Native Born Japanese Man Fares Poorly In America"(Updated:Reviewer abj), May 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Man from Japan (Hardcover)

5/26/03 I found Clive James's book profound/profane in so many parts that in summing up his book ,it is one you will read with concern throughout...:"a Possible leader in Japan" should he do well in academics in the Western World..falls prey to sympathy after befriending a young woman whom he initially is 'mift at' for returning over and over again to the "bookstore" where he is clerk to read ongoing chapters from a book vs buying it..;making poor choices in his permitting "exploitation of himself to an eccentric hermit" for a few "better course meals" whenever the idea of "living within his means bothers him";...allowing himself to "get out of control"in defending this young woman at a party" and thus opened himself to"media coverage" which inevitably gets back to Japan's attention;...finding himself unable to get rid of a "gangsters' "moll" and most sadly having been paged back to Japan,due to the "Appalling Pubicity of the "Party Fight//Congrontation.. being given money by the Mobster via his "Moll" to purchase a piece of property in Japan as a Japanese citizen(it was according to Clive James 'illegal/unlawful' for any foreigners to own property in Japan) and given additional orders to "be the proxy owner" as well as "the real house boy" in having the property in repair (including necessities of staples for whenever "the mobster and his moll" visited Japan..It is no wonder that Clive James concludes the book on what type emotions are running the thoughts of "The Man From Japan" as his plane takes him home.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Divertingly Entertaining, January 9, 2001

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man from Japan (Hardcover)

Short and sweet story about a young Japanese man working at a Japanese-language bookshop in London. He is apparently a "rising star" in certain circles in Japan and has been sent to England to polish his English and his interactions with foreigners. This allows the author to simultaneously poke fun at elements of both British and Japanese culture--albeit aiming only at the obvious targets. The main action centers on his involvement with a highly unsuitable"punk" woman, and later, with a more upscale woman. An economical, comic 160 pages.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Also called "Brmmm... Brmmm...", November 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Man from Japan (Hardcover)

Great book that combines James' humour and empathy. I read it, however, under the title "Brmmm... Brmmm..."