Dave Barry Does Japan

Rating:
Summary: could have been better...
Review: I am a huge Dave Barry fan, but I agree with a few of the others here-- his sharp wit is definitely missing from this one. It just didn't make me laugh. I saw all his attempts on every page to make us laugh, but I just felt like it simply was not funny. He was just pointing out things that are different, and I did not see how that is supposed to be funny. I am a big fan of Japanese culture & language, but I would not go so far as to say that I was "offended", because I wasn't. In fact, I did think the part he talked about Kanji was pretty good. There was one line in which he said something like experts suggest the best way to speak Japanese is to "be born as a Japanese baby, in Japan, raised by a Japanese family." That was probably the funniest line of the whole book to me, simply because I can totally relate as a student of the language for the past three years. But that alone is not enough to save this book from being one of his worst. The rest of the book he just goes on and on about how different we are. How little he likes sumo and kabuki. It seems more close minded than funny. But, I guess that goes with background theme of the book, "Americans are the best". He didn't directly say that, but it seems that basically he is saying throughout the book that anyone who does not do things like americans are weird and therefore funny. A lot of the comparisons are true, and there are differences between our cultures that are funny, and their use of english is quite amusing (also known as engrish). But how does Barry help make any of that to be any more funny than they are alone, by sprinkling exaggerations and mockeries here and there? I expected much more from Barry, not just a "wow, this place is weird, laugh at it". I don't mind his Bold, Proud American point of view-- I actually find that funny at times because I know many people like that. But it just made him sound stupid, unfocused, and like the best he could do was make fun of that which is so different. Do not read this book if you want to read Dave Barry's REAL WIT! He is just not funny or witty in this book!

Rating:
Summary: Funny, but...
Review: This is my first Dave Barry encounter, and for the most part I have to say that I found him quite amusing. There were, however, several instances when I thought that maybe he went a little too far, and then came the chapter on Hiroshima. This chapter is preceeded and followed by a leaf printed darker which obviously is intended to indicate that the book is going to get serious for a moment. I was curious to read what his thoughts were, what the reactions of a comedian--an American comedian--would be to what he experiences. He writes the following about his visit to the memorial museum in Hiroshima:

"I found myself weeping, out of sorrow and helplessness and guilt. But I also felt anger. Because the way the museum presents it, the atomic bomb was like a lightning bolt--something nobody could forsee, and nobody could prevent. It was as though one day, for no reason, the Americans came along, literally out of the blue, and did this horrible thing to these innocent people.

"I don't know if it's possible to justify what happened to Hiroshima--I certainly wouldn't try to justify it to the victims' families. But I found myself wanting to shout to the other museum visitors: Do you know WHY my country did this? Do you wonder what would make a civilized country do such a thing?"

This is the point where I really lost interest in the book. Sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it is quite evident that Dave Barry just does not get it when it comes to this matter. Yes, why, indeed, would a "civilized" country do such a thing? Certainly because it had no other choice, because they were forced to do so by the knowledge that were the Americans to invade Japan itself, it would actually face resistence from millions of civilians--something the Americans would themselves do. The argument that the bombs were dropped in order to "save lives" is weak, and does not take into consideration the geo-political developments in July and August, as well as the fact that there were simply people in the United States who wanted to see what an A-Bomb could really do.

Unfortunately, I have a habit of finishing books, no matter how bad, and no matter how long it takes, so finishing this one to the end was like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard the rest of the way (which was fortunately not long). Although by the end my disgust with the Hiroshima chapter wore away somewhat, but it will take a while before I get around to reading another Dave Barry work.

Rating:
Summary: Very Funny Look at a Foreign Culture
Review: This book was a gas. My favorite part was the part that compared the American to Japanese auto industry. Anyone who finds this book 'ethnocentric' or offensive is just sad. It was a hoot like most of Dave's books.

Rating:
Summary: Being ethnocentric is funny. Ha ha.
Review: ...P>Don't get me wrong - I'm big fan of Mr. Barry's: I think I've managed to read most of his published works and generally found myself laughing through most of them. There ARE some funny passages here (I know lots of people who have had the exact same reaction to Japanese cuisine as Barry), but they are few and far between. The general pattern of this book seems to be 1) point out something different from American culture, and then 2) reiterate that he considers it weird. Granted, trying to understand an alien culture is not exactly an easy thing to do, but I would expect some effort to be given to the subject.

Usually, Barry shows a reasonable amount of insight into his topic (ex. "Dave Barry in Cyberspace"), but that insight does not appear to be present here....

Rating:
Summary: Fun, short and irreverent look at Japan
Review: This book kept popping up on my recommendations, and I finally gave in and bought it. I have recently been wading through a series of Japan-orientated intercultural texts, and this book was a breath of fresh air. It is equal parts funny and insightful.

The book takes an irreverent, realistic look at Japan. This is the point of view of the tourist. Some things, like plastic squid and Sumo, really are strange to us. Dave Barry is not afraid to call a spade a spade. He does not attempt to cross-examine his own cultural biases, but just is happy to say "Look at that. Weird." Also, he is a very funny writer. I have not read any Dave Barry books before this one. The chapter on Hiroshima shows that he can be respectful as well as silly. That chapter really made the book for me.

My only real complaint with the book is that it is "thin." It is a short book, with a large font. Unlike humorous travelogues by Bill Bryson, this book has very little depth and is no more than a "surface glance" at a small part (Tokyo and Kyoto) of Japan. However, Dave Barry is honest about this and says so straight out. Still, it is lots of fun.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of his best
Review: This book is very funny, particularly on the food incidents, which others have pointed out, but it has a surprising amount of sober observations, too, such as the fact that you can leave money on your hotel room dresser in Japan and it will still be there when you return. For me, this book is a great mix of humor, travel, and cultural observation, but don't get me wrong - humor is still here with a capital 'H'.

Rating:
Summary: Hilariously funny !
Review: I read this book with my little brother, and we couldn't stop cracking up! We did skip some of the more adult parts but virtually any one can enjoy this book!

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining!
Review: Basically this is a very humorous book about Dave Barry goes on a trip to Tokyo, pay for by Random House :), with lots of stories about the various mischiefs that he and his family got into due to cultural shocks. Just like many others of Dave's books, a lot of the 'facts' in this book had been madeuped. So don't take what it say seriously or else you are going to run into more troubles than Dave when you go to Japan one day ;)

Rating:
Summary: for Japanese, the book means
Review: I am a native Japanese woman and Ifve never been to U.S. But this is an excellent book even for native Japanese. Dave Barryfs theme looks very clear (Needless to say, including full of humor). Of course I can answer most of his questions easily (nightingales poop, kneel-down comedy, Nintend games) but excpt some misunderstandings, the book has good suggestion for us. Japanese society has been deteriorated for this decade (crimes and economic depression), but I believe Japanese should read it and try to find what he felt from Japanese society 10 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: Another fantastic Barry book
Review: I have a lot of Dave Barry books, and Dave Barry Does Japan is one of his best actual books (as opposed to collections of columns). There aren't as many outright jokes as in his other books, but this is because the situations he gets into are funny enough without them. My favorite part is his never ending quest to find food that is dead, safe, and doesn't have corn on it. Of course, nearly everything he finds doesn't match at least one of these requirments. Also great are the chapters about being lost in Tokyo and attempting to learn Japanese on the plane. Dave also shows his talent for serious writing with a chapter about Hiroshima. If you like Dave Barry, this book is a must buy!