Customer Reviews

TOKYO WOES

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I liked "A Mother's Kisses," and I thought that "Stern" was great, but I found this to be surprisingly boring, all 50 pages that I read. Uninteresting story, with awful dialog, I thought. I wouldn't give my copy to anybody - I hate to throw books away, but have just tossed this one. He CAN be a very funny writer, though - just not with this book.

This book contains one of the funniest lines I have ever read. Like all of Friedman's works - this book is great. But STERN is better.

I just have to balance the one (positive) review with one of my own. As a lover of travel fiction and as someone with an abiding interest in Japan (and a frequent traveller there), I must say that this is among the very worst books I have ever read. As travel literature, it strikes me as the product of someone who's never actually been to the place he's writing about. As erotica or as humour, it falls completely flat. The overriding tone it left me with was that of an author who wrote a novel in a weekend on a dare. Zero attempt at involving the reader. Zero attempt at character or plot development. The characters are just put through their paces and then abandoned. Even had I paid 78 cents for the book I would have felt cheated at the time I wasted on it (and I spend a lot of time reading). Do yourself a favour and stay away, or at the very least, don't let this book help you form any opinions whatsoever on the country of Japan.