I work in a multinational company and am in daily contact with colleagues and clients abroad. They come from r&d, marketing and sales. When I read the book, everything clicked. All of a sudden, I understood why problems dealing with contracts, managing time and solving conflicts had arisen in the past. "Border Crossings" also gave me some good ideas about how to solve intercultural conflicts. When I first started out, I needed a dictionary to understand the language. Now that I understand the language, I need a cultural interpreter to figure out what the words and behavior really mean. "Border Crossings" is my interpreter.

Anyone in either Israel or the US that is interested in working with a factor from the other country cannot afford not to read this book. It has nothing to do with intuition or intelligence - the differences can only be learned, either through tiresome and costly experience or through reading Border Crossings.

I admit I did not finish the book, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. The dustjacket review compares Shahar to Proust. There is truth in this, in that Shahar weaves a narrative from remembrances and images, and then reweaves them from other angles. Myself, I'm more of a Musil or Oz or Rilke person. I like introspection. I want to know what characters are thinking, and what deep thoughts the author has on the world and our experience of it. Page after page of Shahar I just read more images. Perhaps they build to a symphony, but I was left wanting more, not satisfied with recollections, even if Proustian.