From Publishers Weekly
In 1985, Paine, then a 37-year-old technical writer, accepted an offer from her former boss at Hewlett-Packard to work for a year at that company's Japan office in Takaido as a foreign service employee. Intended to be a lighthearted memoir of an American in Japan, Paine's story reads more like one long homesick whine. Although she was apparently paid an enormous sum of money to do very little, she detested her job and was annoyed by her Japanese colleagues, who arrived on time, wore business clothes rather than jeans to the office and did not eat at their desks. To add to her pique, a feud (never fully explained) among three of her fellow foreign workers prevented her from socializing with them as she had envisioned. She hated Japanese food, disliked the noise, crowds and traffic in Tokyo and found the language impossible to learn. Paine does express some appreciation for Japan's lack of crime as well as for the many kindnesses the Japanese showed her. It is clear, however, that she was unable to bridge the culture gap; her attempts to point out the humorous differences between Japan and the U.S. fall flat. Anyone contemplating a visit to Japan will learn little from this myopic account. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Yet another American goes to an Asian country to work for a year or two and must write about it. In this case, Paine worked as a technical writer for Hewlett-Packard in the Tokyo office from 1985 to 1987. She knew little about the country and nothing about the language, although she gamely took Japanese lessons and tried to speak it. Colleagues took her on trips to Mt. Fuji and other sights, but she refused to eat local food and here makes fun of the locals' attempts at English. Otherwise, she searches for corn flakes and luxuriates in her comfortable quarters, wondering how Japanese can stand their own cramped space. Mostly, she dwells on office politics, complains about her life, and plans her escape back to California. Her descriptions of sights, customs, and religion are of the most elementary nature. Paine is a poignant and engaging writer. She needs a different subject.AKitty Dean Chen, Nassau Coll., Garden City, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
