Rating: 
Summary: I didn't want the book to end.
Review: I've never been to Japan, but after reading this book, I feel like I'm more prepared to go someday. It's a good novel, and without meaning to be, a good travel narrative too, illuminating some of the differences between American and Japanese cultures. I was able to sympathize with both American and Japanese characters and it was so entertaining too! Plus, I loved the ending. Bravo on this novel, and I can't wait to read her next.
Rating: 
Summary: Count Me "In" for This Book but "Out" for This Culture!
Review: If ever there was an American not meant to live in Japan, it's got to be me. I was utterly fascinated by this novel of an American female professor in Japan. However, she was able to mostly adapt to the Japanese culture, especially their indirect way of approaching and dealing with everything in their society when it is not in a war. I would not be able to adapt. This society would drive me nuts! Maybe I could tolerate it if I were a man but I have my doubts. For example, Gaby, the protagonist, moves there primarily for its national health care system because she has a serious condition and can't get covered privately in USA. However, when she finally needs to have an operation for this condition, no Japanese doctor will perform it because she does not have a husband or father to "take charge." You also must get used to walking down the street and the Japanese pointing at you and yelling "Gajin," signifying you are not Japanese. (I would think that the big difference in color might be enough of a tipoff without needing to yell it out to everyone.) An American woman can never be assimilated into this culture, can never marry a Japanese man and is closed off from most professions. Everyone, men included, must ask for directions because the Japanese don't name their streets or number their houses. Scratch what I said about an American man making it there; the asking for directions constantly would do hubby in during the first week of his residency! Novelist Backer weaves a fine story around this eye-popping culture, throwing together American Alex Thorn with Gabby. He has come over to Japan to investigate the death of his son whose body was returned to the USA minus its heart but with no information about cause of death. Gabby becomes his point person because she now works for the funeral home which shipped the body home. It sells trendy American-Disney style funerals to the wealthy Japanese. The novel follows no genre formula whatsoever in either romance or mystery. Bravo! I am in deep need for mainstream fiction and Backer delivered big time. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading twice!
Review: If you're a mystery reader, there's nothing like the joy of discovering an author who can write intelligently and still maintain suspense. Backer's debut novel offers several reasons to rejoice: Sympathetic three-dimensional characters, genuine puzzles that we want to solve and, most of all, a wryly humorous view of contemporary Japan in the heat of an unsparing summer.
Alex Thorn, an American psychologist, visits Shizuoka to learn why his twenty-year old son, Cody, an exchange student at the local Shizuyama Unversity, died suddenly in a motorcycle accident. Although Cody's body showed evidence of sophisticated medical procedures, there was no record of a hospital stay and -- more significantly -- no hospital bill. What Alex did have was a receipt for the large sum he had paid Gone With the Wind, a "fantasy funeral" home, to ship Cody's body back to Seattle.
Working at GWTW is Gaby Stanton, a thirty-six-year-old American who has no idea why she lost her English professor position at Shizuyama University. GWTW has no record of Cody's body and no copy of Alex's bill.
Alex blunders around Japan, feeling hot, awkward and out of place. Gaby interprets not only the language but also the culture, which requires reading between lines and hearing what is not said.
Becker offers a rare combination of mystery, human interest and humor, delivered in smooth, literate writing style. The ending comes as an anticlimax -- I was hoping for a more sinister explanation -- and you won't get scared even if you read this book alone in a dark, creaky house. Still, I never lost interest. I found myself wishing I could spend more time with the lead characters and hoping we do not have to wait long for Backer's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced and Culturally Enlightening!
Review: It's hard to believe this is Backer's first novelization. Since I have quite an interest in Japanese culture and language, I found the premise of American Fuji very attractive -- something unusual since my normal fare is that of fantasy and sci-fi. Backer has managed to weave mystery and cultural fish-out-of-water storylines together with a slight dash of romance to make an absolutely magical (and addictive) book that doesn't skimp on action. I was very impressed at how all the pieces that she set up fell into place in the last 1/3 of the book and equally impressed with how three-dimensional the characters -- all the characters -- were. The cultural differences are dealt with, the language accurate...it's simply a wonderful book for anyone of any age, background or sex. Entertaining in the highest degree.
Rating: 
Summary: Clouds obscure Mt. Fuji; deceptive facts obscure a mystery.
Review: Mount Fuji is accessible and a popular pilgrimmage, much like going to Mecca, but its ascent is deceptively easy as the first part of the route is made leisurely by car. Once the hardy climber resumes the ascent on foot, the real trial becomes apparent. Limbs begin to ache, the lungs become aware of the thinning atmosphere. And the question then begs, "Can I really do this?" Sara Backer draws a clever parallel between Mount Fuji's ascent and her own seemingly endless hurdles in acclimating to Japanese society, its maze of social subtleties, the intricacies of the language, and the prejudice against women, as the French put it "d'un certain age". Gaby Stanton is a "December 26th cake". She's unmarried and like the post-holiday cake is stale and undesirable! She's smart, capable, and resourceful but was, nonetheless, fired from her job at a Japanese University. The reason? No one will tell her. It seems the Japanese are ingenious at keeping information inaccessible. And aggressive pursuit of this information would only further illustrate some of Americans' least appreciated characteristics. A yakuza-fronted funeral establishment hires Gaby. She has no knowledge of her boss' unsavory background; she just proceeds to do a good job for the only man who seems to accept her, as well as to encourage her successful sales efforts. Because of her affiliation with the "Gone With The Wind" funeral home Gaby meets Alex Thorn and becomes involved in his personal quest to solve the mystery of his son's death. A bill for the transport of Cody Thorn's body to America came on GWTW stationery. Alex is at a very great disadvantage because he speaks no Japanese has no idea how to negotiate the twists, turns and subtleties of Japan's society. His trip to Japan to promote his new self-help book is an opportunity to plumb the depths of his son's mysterious death and the delivery of the body to his grieving father...minus a heart. The author tells a clever tale while explicating a complicated society, numerous characters, and confounding details leading to all kinds of suppositions, not all of which necessarily pan out as accurate! Backer's heroine is spunky, compassionate, long suffering and doesn't lack for tenacity. She puts aside her personal difficulties as she attempts to assist Alex Thorn with his own quest and grief. A cleverly told tale!
Rating:
Summary: Enlightening
Review: Next to England, Japan is the one country Americans think they know the most about. After all the Japanese run their business's along American lines, their constitution is the product of post World II New Deal Liberalism, baseball is a national passion and Disneyland is their model of family entertainment. To many Americans Japan is little more than an exotic extention of California circa 1962. But is it really? For those of us who have more than a passing interest in Japan, Sara Backer's AMERICAN FUJI is a revelation. Ms. Backer not only puts a face to that most intriguing of countries but a voice as well. Writing in a beautifully textured style the author reveals the subtleties of a place that is still an alien world to us, a technologically modern but socially ancient land that relies on what we "jaded" Americans believe to be naive to live in a country where personal relationships and societal debt count more than written conracts or even the law. Fortunately for us and Alex Thorn--a father seeking answers to his son's death--we are accompanied by Gabriella Stanton, a smart, articulate and remarkably humane guide. It is through Gaby's eyes, and more importaantly her mine, that we are granted the privilege to view this seemingly familiar but enigmatic land. It has been years since I've read a more enjoyable and enlightening novel..If AMERICAN FUJI is an indicator of books to come, Sara Backer is a writer whose name should be noted and remembered.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Enjoyable!
Review: Put simply, this was a fun read. Travel to Japan via book! It doesn't matter if you have not experienced Japanese culture because the author does a great job of creating a very vivid picture. Part mystery, part comedy and part drama this book will continually amuse you. This author has a gift for explaining the nuances of the culture. Check it out!
Rating:
Summary: not what you are expecting.......
Review: Sara Backer has created an intricate plot that revolves around the death of an American student while studying abroad in Japan. His father travels to a small Japanese town to find out the details of his son's death. Things are revealed which do not match up and the father is thrown into an investigation to discover the facts surrounding this death. The problems begin to mount when an American woman is pulled into the middle of the investigation against her better judgement. The problems become even larger when the cultural differences come into play.
A difference in attitudes towards death, towards open expression of emotion and individualism are so wide apart as to appear insurmountable. The difference in the style of daily living, the cuisine and even the written language pose their own problems.
Sara Backer bases the novel on her experiences while she was a visiting professor at Shizuoka University. The cultural differences are handled with both seriousness and humor to make for an interesting look at life as a foreigner in small town Japan.
American Fuji is also the story of a search for love, acceptance and understanding and what people are willing to trade to gain a firmer footing in these emotional arenas.
I found the description of Mount Fuji wonderfully accurate, including the climb. The thoughts that arise are some of the same thoughts I had when I climbed it. It was both majestic and spiritual just as she writes, it was also a lot more difficult than it looked to be.
This was a great story told by a very talented author about love, life and a cultural gap that can not always be bridged.
Rating:
Summary: not what you are expecting.......
Review: Sara Backer has created an intricate plot that revolves around the death of an American student while studying abroad in Japan. His father travels to a small Japanese town to find out the details of his son's death. Things are revealed which do not match up and the father is thrown into an investigation to discover the facts surrounding this death. The problems begin to mount when an American woman is pulled into the middle of the investigation against her better judgement. The problems become even larger when the cultural differences come into play.
A difference in attitudes towards death, towards open expression of emotion and individualism are so wide apart as to appear insurmountable. The difference in the style of daily living, the cuisine and even the written language pose their own problems.
Sara Backer bases the novel on her experiences while she was a visiting professor at Shizuoka University. The cultural differences are handled with both seriousness and humor to make for an interesting look at life as a foreigner in small town Japan.
American Fuji is also the story of a search for love, acceptance and understanding and what people are willing to trade to gain a firmer footing in these emotional arenas.
I found the description of Mount Fuji wonderfully accurate, including the climb. The thoughts that arise are some of the same thoughts I had when I climbed it. It was both majestic and spiritual just as she writes, it was also a lot more difficult than it looked to be.
This was a great story told by a very talented author about love, life and a cultural gap that can not always be bridged.
Rating:
Summary: Backer Ascends Mt. Fuji
Review: Sara Backer's American Fuji is a book that you will not be able to put down from the first word to the last word. The adventures of Gaby and Alex are not only absorbing and exotic, they are a unique glimpse into the Japan that IS Japan. Having lived in Japan for eight years, I am pleased to say that Backer's ability not only to choose the right detail but to choose the most interesting, astonishing, revealing, and accurate detail is unparalleled. From Gaby's unusual occupation to the odd tension of dining in a foreign country as everyone watches your every move, every scene presents the atmosphere of Japan as I remember it, but whether you've been to Japan or not, you will have been there once you read this book. The story is compelling, the characters are fascinating, and the imagination that produced this work is engaging, remarkable, and wild--in the finest sense of the word. After a debut like this, I will buy every book Backer ever publishes. Buy it for yourself and for your friend who teaches English in Japan.
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