This is an infectiously silly story, and my 5-year-old son howls when we read it together. We first picked it up on impulse because it had a train on the cover (my son loves trains) but soon became a favorite bedtime story for its own engaging goofiness. The illustrations are part of the charm as well. You won't be sorry you tried this one!

I'd like to point out before I get into the meat of this review that I am not out to give the writer, sorry "compiler" a damn good ragging, but I am not at all sure this book is as good as you may have been led to believe by the reviewer before me. OK, first, the positive points. There are many well known proverbs in this book that will be useful to anyone who is interested and each proverb is illustrated by a cartoon. So far, so good. However, I have found that a couple of these proverbs are unknown to my Japanese collegues who doubt their authenticity. For example, one of the proverbs that I liked when I first saw it is "Ke bukai mono wa iro bukai". The translation being "A hairy thing is a sexy thing". Well, if you know anything about Japanese culture and attitudes and believe me, I do! I work and live in Japan and I speak Japanese and know a lot of Japanese people, then you will know that body hair is considered to be dirty and repulsive. So how can there be a proverb like that? It stands to reason! Another example of an "unknown" proverb is "He o hitte shiri tsubome" which is supposedly a Japanese version of "It's no use closing the stable doors after the horse has bolted". The Japanese version translates as "It's no use scrunching up you buttocks after you have farted". This is more or less how it is translated in the book. It is an appropriate image, however no one has heard of that either! It is a proverb I like to use from time tio time in English but when I tested out the Japanese equivalent amongst friends, they just thought I was being rude. In fact the word "he" is a coarse word to use in Japanese. "Onara" is more aceptable, well, about as acceptable as talking about farts can be!!! When I have to explain a Japanese proverb to a Japanese person, I can only conclude that the proverb is erroneous to start with. I don't think this is a reliable book. If you get it then check out which proverbs are authentic with a native speaker so you don't end up looking stupid or intentionally rude.

An uncle of mine passed away when I was only about ten. We were very close- even today, my mother and my aunts and uncles tell me how much I remind them of him. Two things immediately pop into mind when I remember my Uncle John- first, he was something of an oddball. And second, he had a passion for languages. Uncle John could speak just about any language you could name. He was particularly fond of Japanese, and I remember him reading to me from "Even Monkeys Fall From Trees." When he passed away, I inherited his copy, and it is to this day my most treasured possession.

What of the book, then? It is really quite simple- it is a collection of 100 Japanese sayings, written both in phonetic Japanese and with an English equivalent (Example- moshi wa moshiya- "for rice cakes, go to the rice cake maker"). Opposite each proverb is a full-page illustration, with the proverb written in Japanese calligraphy. A short preface by the author is included on the significance of the proverbs in Japanese culture, and a short appendix is also included which attempts to find an equivalent adage from our culture for each proverb.

This book is a rich source of inspiration, and I have continually found new meaning in the sayings contained within. The simplicity of its design affords a certain elegance, as it presents the proverbs in a manner which stimulates the reader to find his own wisdom in them. The illustrations are clever and appropriate, and yet do not force a specific interpretation.

This book would make a fine gift for anybody, especially a child, as it is the rare sort of book that one does not merely read, but rather grows with, like a close friend. Whether you're looking for an interesting way to learn some new Japanese, or merely searching for insight, BUY THIS BOOK.

I wish to enlighted interested readers to an important point: there is another book on this subject by the same name, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, by David Mura. Vive la difference! While Galef's attempt at the gaijin novel may be entertaining to those who don't know better, it is hardly the best book on the subject; it may not even be an okay one. Mura's book, on the other hand, is a masterpiece. No wonder. Mura is one of Japanese-America's foremost poet/authors. He wrote the book while working in Japan on a literary fellowship. It is a masterful work of creative nonfiction, relentlessly honest and achingly authentic. Couldn't put it down. And I've read so many books on the same subject that I'm beginning to think that I'M turning Japanese. I also lived there for 13 years, working in the word biz, so I know whereof I speak. Please read Mura's book. Then decide for yourself.

A "just-about-as-accurate-as-it-gets" account of a young man who comes to Asia to fight off the post-graduation blues, discover himself, and get away from the baggage of home. Main character Cricket Collins comes over on a teaching internship, loses his job, finds a new one, gets over his culture shock and actually learns something about Japan. He picks up a nice girl, somehow remains faithful to her, then tries to sort out his life as he acclimatizes to his new world. I found this book quite accurate in its depictions of the "foreign ghetto" of English teachers in Japan, namely the nutty types that end up here as well as the types of situations that they get into. Some of Cricket's experience mirrored mine in an eerie way, none less than the fact that he ended up living in the same town that I do! The author's style is satisfying and reads well, and he renders the language of Japanese characters in the book quite comfortably for the most part - something that would be quite tricky for someone who hasn't lived for a long time in Japan to do. Trips to Korea, China, and New York highlight the book and keep it interesting. With the last chapter of the book, the author veers wildly in his intent and changes the course of the novel drastically by dealing with the Cricket's ideosyncracies quite directly - I am pretty sure I understand what he was trying to do and find it quite amazing, a rare effort in the field of literature and I admire his dedication to his vision although it may give other readers whiplash. A new second-to-last chapter set in America could have softened the blow, but I'm not really complaining. This book has probably only been read by five or six people, a real shame.

Forget Bicycle Days, forget Ransom, this is the only novel that captures what it is *really* like to live as an expatriate in Japan. I've lived in Japan for over 8 years and believe me, this is the only one that gets it right. Galef has created the archetype for the disillusioned English teacher in Japan and his name is Cricket Collins. Don't read that horrible Dave Barry Does Japan book, read this. Highly entertaining and informative. Buy one for all your friends who are thinking about living in Japan.@

I was intrigued by the promise of this novel, billed as BBW (Big Beautiful Women)-friendly. Soon lulled by undeveloped characters and boorish academia, I skipped to the end. I was horrified to discover the insensitive anti-fat ending. The stuff of schoolchildren mockings. Great. More fat abasement to perpetuate already biased stereotypes. Here was an opportunity to promote an engaging piece about warm, caring, sexy love with a BBW. Instead of BBW-loving being embraced as a healthy relationship, it was placed in the same category as masochism and dreams of loving in a leper colony. This book is not BBW-friendly and in fact, quite the opposite.
I absolutely do not recommend this book to BBWs, FAs or other culturally progressive folks looking for a good read.

I read FLESH in less than a week. It is a wonderful book the flows like a conversation. It is filled with accurate descriptions of academia, descents into voyeruism and other fetishes, and wonderful words (keep a dictionary handy-this book is a vocabulary builder). You follow the narrator's story without pause, waiting for the questions he brings up to be answered. You're on the edge waiting for answers until the last ten pages of the novel, but when the story ends you're still intrigued waiting for more definite answers. It is intelligent erotica with great "Fish out of water" descriptons. Read it despite the ending.

A crisp, lively story with interesting characters and fascinating psychological turns. The satire of academe is delicious. Max's diary, revealed toward the end of the novel, is a gem worth waiting for. I liked this book a lot. Galef is both funny and profound.