Customer Reviews

Pacific Rift: Adventures in the Fault Zone between the U.S. and Japan

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Michael Lewis, the controversial author of Liar's Poker, and later writer for the New York Time's Magazine, is quite a writer. He proves his talent yet again in this work about Japanese-American business relations and cultural differences in the 1980s.

As the saying goes, if you liked Liar's Poker, you'll love Pacific Rift.

My only word of caution is that the book may seem dated now that the U.S. isn't scared to death of the Japanese economic "machine". However, the book now gives a nice historical review of what things were like only ten to fifteen years ago.

It's a shame the book is out of print.

After reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Mr. Lewis' other books, I decided to complete my collection with Pacific Rift.

Big mistake. This slim (just over 100 pages) book on early 90s-era U.S.-Asian relations is both dated and poorly conceived. I lost much interest before the 50 page mark.

Pick it up only if you are a Lewis completist. Otherwise, stick to his much better writings like "Moneyball" and "Liar's Poker."

This book may belong to recent history, however like most good history, it has a great deal of relevance to today and to tomorrow.

Michael Lewis's perspective and approach can easily be adopted and applied to the issues with China. In fact, this time the scale is even larger due to the globalization of trade, finance, crises, production, services, labour and capital.

There are definitely sociological differences between cultures. These differences are passed on to the new generations through sieves and gate-keepers and Jungian stereotypical behavior due to pure and learned instincts and emotions. One needs to understand these differences before conducting international trade and gambling in the international financial arena or investing in new geographies.

Books like the "Pacific Rift" may give you some instruments to deal with the current world by allowing you to consider other cultures and past events and perspectives of former actors in these events.

The book is not dull although the significance of the cultural/economic "clash" between United States and Japan has gone the way of classical Greek tragedies. It is written reasonably well. And. most importantly, it will leave a residue with you after you have read it, without having to refer back to it.

Even today, it is worth the money you spend on it if you think you deal or would like to deal in the global arena and believe that you are good at making associations between the past, the present and the future.

Michael Lewis, famous for Liar's Poker and Moneyball, writes what was once a timely book (early 90s when Japan bashing was still trendy) about the challenges of American's in Japan. Learn about the American (Robert Collins, author of Max Danger) trying to import cows in lieu of beef to cut steak prices at the Tokyo American Club, and other misadventures in a world where America was still coming to grips with Japan's emerging power.

This is significant and not dated. Lewis explores how the Japanese rose from the defeat of World War II to defeat America on most fronts. On a pound for Pound basis Japan is still outperforming America on most fronts. If it looks like they are not it is only because Taiwan and South Korea and Germany and Sweden are also doing so well. The integration between government and industry in Japan is like nothing our own economics professors and statesmen are capable of describing or reacting to.