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Wrong About Japan
A Father's Journey With His Son
by Peter Carey


3.5

based on 12 reviews
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based on 2 votes
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Theft

Official Publisher Site

The Australian novelist--twice the winner of the prestigious Booker Prize--takes a turn at nonfiction, writing about a journey to Japan with his 12-year-old son who is obsessed with manga and anime and gets a rare opportunity to meet many of his favorite artists.

Knopf, 176 pages
01/11/2005
$17.95

ISBN: 1400043115

Nonfiction
Entertainment & Media
Social Sciences
Travel

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Publishers Weekly

This travel diary reads like a scintillating novella. [22 Nov 2004, p.49]

The Economist

A pleasure to read.

The Guardian Ian Sansom

Wrong About Japan does not proceed directly towards its vouchsafed conclusions, but rather wanders slowly towards them in that slightly soft-drug kind of prose that makes Carey's work so enjoyable, so charming and sometimes so infuriating.

The Independent Philip Gwyn Jones

It's a slight book, with a soft mist of disappointment drifting across it, yet there is perhaps more to it than meets the eye.

San Francisco Chronicle Greg Beato

As a lively introduction to these various facets of Japanese culture, "Wrong About Japan" is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, and, like any good tour guide, Carey leaves you wanting more.

Christian Science Monitor Takashi Oka

Peter's own conclusion that, for all its modernity, Japan remains inaccessible to outsiders, sounds like a tired cliché. The saving grace of his story is that it is not shared by Charley.

The New York Times Book Review Marcel Theroux

In the end, this book, which is never less than charming, feels slight. Anyone who wants to find out about Japan or manga will be better served elsewhere.

Washington Post Robert Schroeder

Bafflement may be a useful conceit in fiction, but in nonfiction, one wants more conclusiveness.

Daily Telegraph Anthony Thwaite

Those who know Japan are likely to be mildly irritated by Peter Carey. Those who don't know it may be mildly diverted.

Daily Telegraph

Frustratingly, though, the title of this slim book does give it away.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Sarah Sheard

I'm not sure how this manuscript passed editorial muster. Contemporary Tokyo is left an untranslated cartoon. [22 Jan 2005, p.D4]

The New York Times Michiko Kakutani

A thoroughly cursory travelogue that feels as though it had been written on a tight deadline for an airline magazine.

The average user rating for this book is 3.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

roman noveau gave it a5:
A sweet, if shallow, little book. Should have been better edited; lots of elementary errors in the meaning and (transliterated) spelling of Japanese words.

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Wrong About Japan A Father's Journey With His Son by Peter Carey

Wrong About Japan
A Father's Journey With His Son
by Peter Carey