Dave Barry Does Japan

by Dave Barry | Humor |
ISBN: 0449908100 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingmaryzeewing of Taneytown, Maryland USA on 6/9/2007
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingmaryzeewing from Taneytown, Maryland USA on Saturday, June 9, 2007
Picked this up at a yard sale.

From the cover -
So what did Japan ever do to Dave Barry?

It introduced him to a mouth-watering array of Far Eastern culinary delights ("the Japanese routinely eat things that have eyeballs or suckers or other flagrantly unacceptable organs still attached to them"); exposed him to high culture ("one hour of watching Kabuki is the equivalent of seventeen hours spent in a more enjoyable activity, such as eye surgery"); and brought him face-to-face (or belly-to-belly) with the sports sensation that is sumo wrestling ("two severely porky guys in jockstraps lunging into each other").

Not since George Bush's memorable dinner with the Japanese prime minister has the Land of the Rising Sun seen the likes of a goodwill ambassador like Dave Barry. Join him as he belts out oldies in a karaoke bar, marries a geriatric geisha girl, takes his first bath in public, bows to just about everyone, and explores culture shock in all its numerous, humorous forms, including:
. Failing to Learn Japanese in Only Five Minutes
(Or, "Very Much Good Morning, Sir!")
. Secrets of Japanese industry (I Probably Should Have Written Them Down)
. Humor in Japan (Take My Tofu! Please!)
. Sports in Japan ("Yo, Batter! Loudly Make It Fly!")
. Lost in Tokyo (Or: Looking for Plastic Squid)
. Staying at a Japanese Inn (Peace, Tranquility, Insects)

Journal Entry 2 by wing6of8wing at Westminster, Maryland USA on Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Sadly, MaryZee passed suddenly in September 2012. MaryZee's daughter is now ready to rehome her mom's books and I was willing to collect and redistribute them to keep her literary legacy alive.

I am setting this book aside for the Travel Narratives Book Box. MaryZee enjoyed participating in that book box and she has quite a few books that can be included. It seemed like another great way to share her legacy. I've read this one -- not his best book, but not his worst. Dave Barry is always good for a few laughs.

Journal Entry 3 by wing6of8wing at Westminster, Maryland USA on Saturday, November 3, 2018

Released 5 yrs ago (11/3/2018 UTC) at Westminster, Maryland USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is going to be passed along to SqueakyChu at the meet-up in Westminster.

Any future reader or recipient of this book is encouraged to leave a journal entry here on the BookCrossing site to let prior readers know the fate of the book. You can make an anonymous entry without joining the BookCrossing movement, but if you are interested in joining, it is a free and spam-free community where your contact information is not shared with others. Best of all, members receive private messages via e-mail from books like this one when those books are journaled, allowing for long-term relationships between books and readers.

Journal Entry 4 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Sunday, November 4, 2018
This was a RABCK from 6of8. Thank you so much. Both my oldest son and I are interested in things Japanese so I hope to read this book first and later pass it along to him (if he's also interested in reading it).

Journal Entry 5 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Saturday, April 13, 2019
I started out reading his book with quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. After I was about half-way through this book, it no longer seemed all that funny to me any more. I am familiar with Japan, not from traveling there, but from reading Japanese fiction and from hearing about Japan from my older son's frequent travels there. I have come to respect the Japanese culture even though it is quite different from my own. For this reason, the more I read this book, the more I became disappointed with Barry's "appreciation" of Japanese culture. It was this same reason which in the past turned me off to some of Bill Bryson's "humorous" travel writing. What's entertaining about someone poking fun at something one truly knows well is quite different than poking fun at another culture, something deeply personal. It no longer comes off as funny.

Fortunately, the chapter about Hiroshima was appropriately somber. The conclusion also hit the right notes by noting some marked differences between the American and Japanese cultures with at least a degree of respect.

This is not to disparage Dave Barry's humor. His other writing I find hilarious. This book did not sit too well with me, though.

Journal Entry 6 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Saturday, April 13, 2019
I asked my older son if he wanted to read this book, and he said no. I don't think he'd like it so I'll just release it to someone else.

Journal Entry 7 by wingSqueakyChuwing at LFL - Vandegrift Ave (5811) (#7720) in Rockville, Maryland USA on Friday, August 2, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (8/7/2019 UTC) at LFL - Vandegrift Ave (5811) (#7720) in Rockville, Maryland USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 8 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Caught!

Thank you for returning this book to the Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720). I'll be saving it to go out for Round #2.

Journal Entry 9 by wingSqueakyChuwing at LFL - Vandegrift Ave (5811) (#7720) in Rockville, Maryland USA on Saturday, November 30, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (12/8/2019 UTC) at LFL - Vandegrift Ave (5811) (#7720) in Rockville, Maryland USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Going out for Round #2...

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I'm releasing this book in memory of MaryZee for...

***The 2019 What's in a Name Release Challenge hosted by DragonGoddess. The titte of this book contains the names DAVE, BARRY and AN.

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Enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 10 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Tuesday, December 17, 2019
I selected this book from the Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720) to release elsewhere.

Journal Entry 11 by wingSqueakyChuwing at Rockville, Maryland USA on Thursday, January 9, 2020

Released 4 yrs ago (1/9/2020 UTC) at Rockville, Maryland USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm releasing this book to my Twinbrook neighbor who will soon be stewarding a Little Free Library near the Sunrise Assisted Living building in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Enjoy!

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Hello and welcome to BookCrossing ... where we make the whole world a library!

Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!

I'd love if you'd enter a note here on BookCrossing about this book -- where you found it, how you like it, and/or where you release it. If you join BookCrossing (free and fun), kindly list me, SqueakyChu. or any other journaler on this thread as your referring person. Thank you so much.

Enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 12 by wingAnonymousFinderwing at Bethesda, Maryland USA on Saturday, February 15, 2020
I found it in the LFL by Sunrise, as advertised! I plan to pass it along to a friend but of course had to read it first.

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