Rating: 
Summary: What can I say?
Review: All I have to say is that I just could not walk away from this book. I loved how well it was structured. It has great flow and was very easy to follow. I caught myself numerous times gasping, wincing, laughing out loud as I read. What I find most captivating is Ozeki's uniqueness in the book: who would ever think about 1)"beef and the industry on tour" and 2) JA/Japan culture clash and be able to get away with it? Again, Ozeki's worked definitely exercised my facial muscles and damn, I'd do it again!
Rating: 
Summary: Propaganda aside, it's a very unique reading experience.
Review: Ruth Ozeki' has a political point to make about American society and, in the best tradition of all social evangelists, she makes it with a sledge hammer. There is room for legitimate debate about how food in general, and meat in particular, is grown and harvested in America, but you will get only one side of that debate here. Subtlety does not make an appearance on this score. And, if that were all there was to this book, I would give it zero stars and move on. However, the "meats" aspect is just the tip of the iceberg here and to focus ion it is to miss the beauty of this novel. Jane Takagi-Little, the protagonist, is a Japanese-American starving-artist documentary filmmaker who's circumstances force her to accept a commission from a Japanese beef trade group to produce a TV series for Japanese TV. The purpose of the program is to stimulate beef consumption in Japan via scenes from idealized American rural life of hearty plains folks growing happy and strong on beef (recipies to be included). The big boys want nice, slim, Anglo types with nary a scintilla of evidence of coronary disease. What the producers fail to see is that what a person is often is more than what they appear to be. Chosen in large part for her Japanese-ness, Jane is in actuality a fully assimilated American culturally Placed under the guidance of a sycophantic local producer, a zany production crew, and armed with an inherent rebellious disposition, Jane sets about finding all sorts of rotund, ethnic families to highlight in the show. The book is as much about being at the vortex of multiculturalism as it is about the beef industry. Jane's need to try to provide some actual educational content within the show about the realities of life in America as opposed to the "idealized" view of her employers, her growing disgust of the practices of the American beef industry, her search for love, her struggles to mesh with her production crew, her desire to tweak the providers of her desperately needed income, all combine to weave a tale of frustration and longing that is as delightful as it is unique. I've read a lot of the reviews and you'd think this was simply a manifesto about the dangers of meat. It's way more than that and, if you can adopt an apolitical attitude and jump in and enjoy the story as opposed to worrying about the propaganda, you are in for a real treat.
Rating:
Summary: Novel as Documentary
Review: Like the television documentary My Year of Meats is primarily about, the novel grows from an interesting but trivial dramatization of real life to a poignant and vicious attack against the meat industry in the United States. The author, Ruth L. Ozeki, too, like her dual protagonists Jane Takagi-Little and Akiko Ueno, seems to grow through the novel, from an ambitious but tentative writer to a determined and confident one, who must tell her audience a story that they may not, in fact, want to hear. Throughout the novel, there are many times and places in the novel where the author's previous experience in filmmaking become evident. The novel shifts in place and in sequence, much as a film is shot out of sequence. But while the film is usually brought together and edited to form a sequential continuum, the novel uses these shifts in time, place, and focus to force the reader to edit and shape the story in his own mind. Being a Japanese American living in Japan for the past 15 years, I have often felt the cultural barriers and identity confusing matters that affect the lives of the novel's characters. The many factors, including cultural and racial predjudice, that affect the business matters in the story, too, have, likewise, affected my life. The novel does justice to both the American and Japanese sides of the cultural barrier, making an effort to foster a better understanding on both sides. My Year of Meat is also partly about television, and the seedy and slimy agency reps that often determine its content. The novel shows, at first, how incapable the format is to tell the more important stories underlying the authentic programming. Yet, in the end, it is the news programs and the networks - on both sides of the Pacific - that eventually purchase and present the startling story uncovered by Jane Takagi-Little. But despite the cultural, ethnic, and linguistic matters and conflct of interest between the public good and advertising interests that underly the story, My Year of Meat is mostly about the author's "beef" with beef. The true stories about hormone injections, foul breeding practices, despicable slaughter methods, and other issues that affect the cattle industry are documented beautifully and in an entertaining way. The novel is definitely one that will nausiate the weak-stomached. But for most, it should be one that brings in equal parts tears in the eyes, laughter in the gut, and food for thought. A brilliant first effort. I am anxious to see Ms. Ozeki's films and her next novel!
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous - brutal, engaging, necessary, interesting...
Review: An amazingly well written book - captivating from the start. Thought provoking and an excellent choice for book clubs or other discussion-oriented groups. Funny, honest, engaging characters (mostly - I agree that there are some that are in one way or another stereotypical or one-sided). Lots of issues to deal with - fertility, ethics of raising livestock, cultural differences (whether they are stereotyping or not), ethics of doing one's own job, racial identity. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a "PC" book. Yes, it does address issues and its main character does advocate for a greater understanding of humanity... but it doesn't preach. I really really enjoyed this book. It nearly made me sick toward the end - I was lucky I didn't have nightmares - but it is, I believe, a necessary part of the story. You can skip those pages and not lose too much. I'll definitely be buying organic beef from now on.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I loved this book on so many levels, there's not enough space for me to elaborate. The characters are evolved, the dialogue true, the story engaging, and the issues bravely told. I'm a vegetarian, but I like my books well done -- and this one is.
Rating:
Summary: Please pass the tofu
Review: I enjoyed this book, somewhat against my will; a friend gave it to me. Perhaps it was because I am a vegetarian, as if this book would validate my preference. It did, but with all the "organic" meat around, I don't think it will change too many other minds about their dietary habits. It was a good story, well told, an interesting plot and plenty of sub-plots to keep me reading. The book is written like a TV series, which follows since the subject of the book is the making of a TV series. The reader is taken across the country from one household to another and every couple chapters we are introduced to new guest star. The main stars remain the same and their characters develop with respect to their new surroundings. Or, at least, I expected them to develop. Ozeki's female characters dominate the book; they are sympathetic characters and exhibit strong sensitivity and compassion. The male characters are not so deftly drawn; of the two main male characters one is a malicious creep and the other a white knight. Perhaps the only two real men in the book are two minor characters who serve as assistants to the female protagonist. Interesting for a women's novel, the book touches on the theme of estrogen poisoning. Although the author gives us plenty of physical effects of this malady, she never goes into the psychological effects. On the contrary, the men stricken with the hormone seem as testosterone laded as ever. This book does offer insights into the Japanese family and culture, the differences and similarities between Japan and the U.S. Despite the social conventions, the author suggests, both cultures seek to find, and redefine, the family structure.
Rating:
Summary: A really good book
Review: my year of meats is about jane takagi-little, a japanese-american from quam, minnesota, akiko ueno and her husband "john", and unique characters that appear at different times during the book, like vegetarian lesbians, a couple in lousaina with 12 children, and bunny, a ranchers wife who helps jane discover the hidden use of d.e.s in the meat industry. janes show, "my american wife!" helps her meat all of these people, and get her into trouble with "john" ueno alot. i would recomend this book to most people who are open minded and like japan.
Rating:
Summary: what a great book
Review: This is a really brilliant novel. it is funny, smart, sad, and extremely poigniant. I don't generally laugh out loud at books but this one had me rolling in the aisles (I read it on a train). I read the book last summer, and I still remember many scenes very vividly. the book even made me a vegetarian (for a week).
Rating:
Summary: Savory Surprise
Review: I found this copy of My Year of Meats on a bargain table for 2 bucks. How could I resist. I had just finished my own year of meats having lost weight on a no carbohydrate diet. So the title caught my eye. It sounded like a cute, quick read so I picked it up. What a surprise. This cute, quick read had me laughing out loud, and reading through my tears. The connection between the two "heroines" on either side of the ocean was remarkable, and the faxes across the ocean were a wonderful bridge. This is an important book. I feel enriched by having read it, and to me that is all I can ask of any book.
Rating:
Summary: East "Meats" West
Review: "My Year of Meats" is an ambitious novel that defies being confined to one type of genre or style. What starts as a smart and funny satire of American and Japanese cultures ultimately morphs into an examination into some serious and tragic subject matter (and not just limited to the meat industry). The novel uses multiple narrative perspectives (primarily Jane Takagi-Little, an American documentary filmmaker of Japanese descent, and Akiko Ueno, a repressed Japanese housewife) and intersperses a traditional narrative style with faxes and letters to move the plot along. While the shifting tone and many points of view may frustrate some readers, one thinks Ozeki is purposely placing the reader on a roller-coaster ride. One can never really anticipate what will be around the next corner. The paperback version also includes an interview with the author and discussion questions. One can see why this book has become a favorite of reading groups. The novel is filled with plenty of topics worthy of debate -- from the meaning of the American dream or "ideal" to each of the characters' issues with abuse and denial in their lives. Nevertheless, "Meats" is entertaining while never being heavy-handed (though an unflinching look at a slaughterhouse is perhaps the biggest blow to the meat industry since Oprah's beef trial and Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"). In the spirit of Jane's wickedly sarcastic faxes to her meat-obsessed Japanese boss, I would have to say that this is a "well done" novel and definitely a "rare" treat.
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