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.
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
This travel diary reads like a scintillating novella. [22 Nov 2004, p.49]
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Favorable
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The Economist
A pleasure to read.
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Favorable
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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.
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Favorable
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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.
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Favorable
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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.
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Favorable
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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.
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Mixed
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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.
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Mixed
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Washington Post Robert Schroeder
Bafflement may be a useful conceit in fiction, but in nonfiction, one wants more conclusiveness.
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Mixed
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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.
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Mixed
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Daily Telegraph
Frustratingly, though, the title of this slim book does give it away.
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Unfavorable
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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]
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Unfavorable
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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.
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