Asia Books

I am in agreement with the other reviewers that this is a very good history of the US/Philippine War that should be more broadly read. Parallels with Vietnam and the present oily Iraqi War are eerie: attacks on the patriotism of war critics to silence them, support of the wide spread use of various tortures against the adversary including "The Chinese Water Treatment" (aka "Chinese Water Torture"--from which "Waterboarding" is only a variation), the excusing of massacres of civilians by American soldiers, etc. There truly is nothing new under the sun when it comes to these dirty little 3rd world wars. I'm reminded of the poet Robinson Jeffers' poem "Blood Lakes." So many blood lakes and we always fall in--with apologies to Jeffers' spirit if I've essentially misquoted him.

Perhaps we can overcome our national "Altzheimer's" on the issue of these 3rd world colonial/neo-colonial wars and stay out of them when the next opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, I would settle for our exit from the present Iraqi mess with all due and reasonable speed. America's moral force and image in the world is not improved by our involvement in such bloody horrors.

A very interesting story about the American armies attempt to end the Phillipine insurgency that broke out in the wake of the Spanish-American war. Originally allied with the Americans the Phillipinoes were angry that the U.S had promised indpedendence and from their point of view, reneged on the promise. An insurgency broke out and the American army used classic anti-insurgency methods to break it, including creating institutions and providing incentives for the people not to back it, as well as combatting it. Famous figures such as Roosevelt, Taft, Pershing and Macarthur's father were involved. This is an important part of American history that is often forgotten.

Seth J. Frantzman

This book reviews the politics and media surrounding the actions by the US in the Philippines following the Spanish-American war. It gives great insight into the propaganda used to sell the war to the American pubic and to obfuscate the atrocities that American soldiers committed there. Miller paints a fascinating picture of egocentric American political and military commands steeped in duplicity and self-delusion; these patterns will be interesting and familiar to any student of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

The material is sourced mainly from newspaper editorials, political speeches, congressional inquiries and the letters of politicians and high ranking military figures.
This book will not tell you anything about what the war was like for the soldiers on the ground, American or Philippino. It won't tell you much about tactics. It won't teach you anything about Philippine culture of the time, either.

This book is an excellent general history of the American invasion and conquest of The Philippines in 1898-1902. The author immersed himself in private letters, official hearings, and newspaper editorials from the era. The result of this research is a compelling picture of a sleazy and violent episode in American history, when Republican politicians launched a war to boost their prospects in the 1898 midterm elections. The book is timelier than ever after 9/11, since imperialism has come back into vogue in the guise of anti-terrorism -- anyone who has illusions about America's "innocence" today should read Miller's accounts of atrocities and racism circa 1900.

I gave the book four stars instead of five only because the narrative is based almost exclusively on U.S. sources. In particular, Miller's endless rehashing of imperialist and anti-imperialist newspaper editorials gets quite old at times.

This book was originally from 1982, written in a time of post-Vietnam regret. However, this book may have picked up on themes, very much in the U.S. press in the period of the Philippines war of a century ago, that are suddenly current in fall 2005: systematic use of torture by American forces (particularly the "water cure"); carelessness with the lives of civilians in the battle zones; denunciation of Americans with doubts about the war as unpatriotic or traitorous; the denial of normal legal due process to an enemy deemed too savage and inferior to be worthy of it; considerable confusion on the events where U.S. forces transpose one war (i.e., Spain 1898 or War on Terror 2001) into a new one (the Philippines in 1899 or Iraq today) more by act of U.S. will than enemy action. The author does stretch some comparisons between the Philippines war and Tonkin Gulf and My Lai, but given the events of Operation Iraqi Freedom the book seems eerily more relevant now.

Another reviewer has noted that Mr. Miller's research was almost entirely from U.S. sources. That does take it down from five stars but we should remember that this book, as with the Iraq war, is more about the U.S. mind-set than about the other side. Thus the book's tone is a bit as lurid as the press of that day but it is startling how the U.S. public read this news coverage year after year and then -- as Mr. Miller notes -- forgot. We might wind up putting Iraq out of mind as well, its veterans and victims as forgotten and neglected as those of 1902, a point Mr. Miller does us a favor by raising. Scary.

Full of good ideas, good list of tour groups (must go on a tour) especially locally owned. Good information on what to do, costs, etc.

I bought this guide before my first trip to Bhutan, and it helped me immensely in planning my tour. It contains detailed information about the country--history, culture, geography, and facts for travelers. And it gives accurate information about the trekking routes and cultural tours. As is typical for Lonely Planet publications, this one is interesting and well written, and I found the information to be relevant to my trip. It is not easy to travel to Bhutan (there are many government restrictions), and this book made everything easier. I had such a successful, fun trip that I've been back several times (www.jachungtravel.com), and I still refer to this edition of the guide. It's packed with good information, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Bhutan.

Lonely Planet is unbelieveable! They continually pump out the HIGHEST quality guidebooks, and they've done it again with this edition covering Bhutan. I have spent a good portion of my life researching, and hording information on Bhutan, and have found Lonely Planet's guidebook to contain everything and more that the traveller could ever want...with two exceptions. I think that the lack of the U'cen script in the language chapter is a serious mistake. Lonely Planet has the capacity to print in the U'cen script as they did so in their Tibet edition. My other qualm is with the sparse coverage of the smaller and admittedly FAR less visited dzongkhags (districts) (i.e., Daga, Samdrup Jongkhar, Pema Gatshel, Zhemgang, Tsirang, etc.). Lonely Planet, resolve these issues and your book will be the best it could be.

In anticipation of a trip to Bhutan in 2008 I was looking for a travel guide and opted to buy Lonely Planet's. I read it cover to cover and found to contain very good information, advice, tips, descriptions, recommendations, etc. I travel extensively worldwide and Bhutan will be a novel adventure. It brings back memories of my trip to Tibet in 2000. I highly recommend this guide.

Hello!

I'd been searching for a book on Bhutan which could provide me with a little bit of everything about the country viz. the history, geography, people and the culture. I have searched for books on Bhutan in several book stores around. It was so hard to find one in English but I think this one will do.

May be, finally......... I have found the book I'd been looking for.

Breath of the Dragon successfully pits ancient Thai cultural beliefs against more modern day outlooks with main character Malila in the middle. Through her grandmother, she learns to embrace and appreciate her heritage while Grandmother grows and learns as well. Perhaps the central lesson is that life, while not always easy, often works out for the best. Gile's weaving of Thai language, customs, clothing and festivals adds to the richness of the well paced story and while not tying everything in a neat package at the end, leaves the reader with hope none the less.

I used to live in Thailand and I was worried how true to the culture the book was going to be. Not to worry, this book is wonderful. I can't believe how good it is. I'm glad I bought it and will highly recommend it to my Peace Corps friends.

I was so touched by the beautiful language and touching portrait of Malila. Every child has experienced ostracism at some point and this is an excellent story how one child not only survives it, but flourishes. Keep a hanky handy! A fantastic story to read aloud!

By the time I was reading the final three chapters aloud to my class, there was not a dry eye amongst my charges.

I had my students write letters to Malila (the main character) and the depth of empathy revealed in this assignment pored its soul in their expression.

BREATH OF THE DRAGON is a beautiful book, subtle, its language spare and poetic. It is the story of Malila, a young Thai girl who comes to live with her grandmother after a family crisis. Malila's grandmother is a wonderful person, creating an atmosphere where the little girl's artistic talents can flourish and where she can feel safe and loved. Within this story Giles seamlessly interweaves fascinating information about the customs and culture of Thailand. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await more works by Gail Giles!

My son kept checking this book out at the library, then I found an awesome price at amazon and bought it for him last Christmas we have read it so many times that my 5yo has memorized it, great book for the whole family to sit down together and read

This is a fun story of a monkey who wants some bananas from a tree but has to cross a sea of crocodiles to do it. By counting the crocodiles, (and ultimately outsmarting the crocodiles) the monkey does just that. It has become a family favorite. It has increased our little's girls awareness of counting and her phonemic awareness through the rhyming words.

When we borrowed this from the library, we read it several times per day, and my kids were begging to keep it when it was time to return it. Now we have to buy a copy for ourselves, plus one for a gift. The rhymes are better than clever--maybe even brilliant! With the catchy rhythm, this was easily the most fun book I've ever read with my kids. My four-year-old daughter was soon reading it to her brother, with the help of the fantastic illustrations. All in all, a very fun book that will thrill young and old!

Counting Crockodiles is a great book. My 3 year old loves it. It is his favorite book. We read it EVERY night before bed. The pictures are colorful and the animals keep his attention. He likes that the words rhyme. He looks at it so much I am ready for another copy.

As a mother of a 3 year old daughter and an early childhood educator, this is probably my most favorite book available.

The story revolves around a monkey who spies a banana tree on an island across the way and tricks the crocodiles into making a bridge for him to go over and retrieve some bananas. Each page is very colorfully illustrated and is told in a very catchy poetic form. Through the story you count crocodiles from one to ten and back again. The book is short but puts a smile on your face all the way through.

This story is excellent for teaching values, sequence in stories and in counting, and is a great introduction to crocodiles. A huge fan of The Crocodile Hunter, my daughter finds this story entertaining, and is one of the only stories she asks me to read over and over. It's nice because this is one of the only stories I like reading over and over!

The author is well-known in the military and academic environments. With the last FM-100, it was supposed that everything was now mentioned. But, not. A tradition, inherited from the Civil war, exists in the USA, of saving grunts lives, avoiding the combats at close distances and using with profusion the heavy fire support to win always.
It does not serve to gain the hearts and the minds of the people, intermingled with the rebels in cities or open land, thanks to a degree of constraint that always exists from the rebels. Henry Poole offers a heap of counterinsurgency tactics. He also speaks about the own character of the possible rebels. And, especially, he creates the mixed units, at a very low level of action, of proffesional soldiers, self-defense forces and civil elements of construction, promotion and education. With them it is possible to interpose a "swarm", more active, effective and professional of loyal units, to the swarm of the guerrilla units. And to go isolating them slowly, reliably and progressively from the people, of their bases and of the rest of their operational and strategic goals.

John Poole knows how to combat Islamic and Chinese-backed insurgencies by blending in both measured military & police actions. In his newest & my personal favorite book, "Dragon Days" Poole weaves in various apsects of unconventional fourth generation warfare, to include how aspects of police anti-gang operations would serve the infantrymen to disrupt the IED networks that are causing most of US casulaties. Operations in Iraq must become focused on investigating the various "networks" (terrorist & criminal) to disrupt them & turn the people against the behavior that does not allow them to return to a normal life, and their children are not killed by US forces in an attempt to dislodge militants. Police operations focus on identifying & eliminating the "bad guy" from the neighborhood. Use of force is used only IF the suspect(s) do not comply & actively resist. As in gang "hoods" in the US, even if the police are right & kill a suspect, the residents blame the police. As Poole states in the latest edition of his great books on unconventional warfare, this condition also exits within Iraq or Afghanistan. We are still considered the Great Occupiers in Islamic lands & all bad things come with this title.
Poole's book also goes over how to improve multiple counter-insurgency fucntions & methods & what has not worked in the past & why. All of his book are great reading,and full of very useful information for military & law enforcement professionals involved in 4th GW. My advice is to recommend Poole's book to fellow professionals, and buy an additional copy for yourself since once your copy is "loaned" out, it'll be passed on to others, which is how all great knowledge should be treated. Pass it on!

John Poole see's the cycles of "modern" warfare well before even the military services and three letter agencies are willing to shift focus of effort; especially in pre-deployment training programs. I used his "Tactics of the Crescent Moon" as a primer for my team before we deployed into Ramadi in 2005. It was extremely accurate and my men were able to operate without delays as soon as we arrived.

"Dragon Days" brings us around full circle to meet an organized and nationalized global threat that has proclaimed "total war against the U.S." and allies itself with insurgent and terrorist organizations as its surrogates. It won't be long before the State Department has to admit the DOD will be needed for other "troop deployments" as the Chinese continue to shape the world through asymmetric warfare. This book of Poole's has it all in there. Open source intel to study and verify and the proper tactics, techniques and procedures to meet the variety of threat we should expect to encounter once our infantry and SOF operators are distributed on the ground.

Mark S. Mosher
MSgt. USMC (Ret.)
Program Manager
Combat Training Systems Division
BMI Defense Systems

I think that John Poole set a good example for us all to follow.
If we all were as productive and current in our analysis, and furthermore managed to put out tactical and technical advice to our troops in the field, the current conflicts would end sooner with much less casualties.

But wait, we don't need to do that. Because John Poole does this for us. We only need to pick up his latest book and start to apply the tactics that he describes.

I think that John Poole's later books are improving in readability but they still keep that cutting edge of current and life saving advice.

I urge you all to pick up this book and learn.

We need to submit this brilliant book to the Army Chief of Staff's and Marine Corps Commandant's reading lists! John Poole has marked himself as an authority on 4GW, but more specifically and importantly, how to prepare our leaders and units for unconventional tactics which is subset, yet important one, of 4GW. In my day job as a consultant to the U.S. Army on leader development, I get to stay in touch with "the field," leaders that are engaged in this 4th GW struggle, and the ones that have discovered John's Dragon Days (as well as the other titles) have nothing but praise for how it assisted them and their units. I wish we could find a way for the next President to have a session with John Poole on warfare.

My child had to read this book for a summer reading requirement. Naturally, I read the book to be sure he would do a good job. I encourage anyone to read this book, as it has a great story line. The author has the ability to take the reader into the story and keep the reader captivated. I found that in the middle of the book I could not put it down, as I was enthralled on finding out what would take place next. The author has done the research behind the culture of the characters, and has managed to voice the humor to reflect.

Goodbye Vietnam would be a good book for children or adults interested in history.I for instance am interested in books about history i rated this book with only 3 stars because i feel they dont talk enough about what is important in this book. With this book things need to be explained more about what is happening.

I first got interested in Vietnam at the age of 7. My eldest sister's husband was born in Vietnam. From everything he and his family has told me about it, it is 110% acurrate. It is very special to me because of my brother-in-laws life there. HE escaped Vietnam, and it is true how they live on platforms. Anyway, it's an awesome book. It is amongst the best books I've ever read.

My friends were reading this book and they said it was good so I triend it and it is one of my favorite books now. This book is a story about a girl and how she escapes with her family to Hong Kong and then on to America. Its a have to read!

I believe that this book is good for children because it explains things like sacrifice, suffering, and courage clearly. If a child reads this book, he or she will be interested because the principal character (a 13 years old) is telling the story. So, young readers can feel good witn this book, and also they learn about the true meaning of life. Finally, I would recomended that all children read this fantastic story.

Surprisingly, my library system got this book from Vancouver Public Library for me. I would suggest those who yearning for Lenin try your library system. The out-of-print copies may hide in libraries. I am on my way with the author from Siberia to Central Asia. The writing style is as similar as that of A Fortuneteller, and as enjoyable and as readable. I also got Tiziano's early book Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon (1976) from the library system.

I have never read a book that I have been unable to put down, and upon finishing - picked up a pencil, flipped back to page 1 and started again, underlining as I went. I have read the book 4 times now. Terzani is a brilliant and extreemly knowlegable writer who has embraced his love for SE Asia and put it to words so brilliantly. For me, a young Italian traveller living in Bangkok - this book is unsurpassable for ANYBODY who has visited South East Asia and fallen in love with it's charming and heart-warming character (excluding Singapore - Of course!). PLEASE contact me anybody is able to get copies of China: Behind the Forbidden Door, or Goodnight Mr Lenin.

Like one of the other people who wrote in, I too have not yet read Goodnight, Mister Lenin. I have just finished reading A Fortune Teller Told Me and it's been the first book in a long time where I wanted to read every single word rather than just scan through. Tiziano writes as if he is speaking, and this, together with his travels and constant search for answers which lead him on a colourful and fascinating journey, left me looking for more of his books. Mr Terzani you're a gem, thank you for sharing.

I think it is great book because it gives you an open window on the facts. It is obvious that in some way T.T. gives his opinion about the facts, but you also got all the space to try and imagine yours. In some situations I disagreed with his way of interpreting things, and this is the wonderful thing. Trough his eyes I've developed a critical vision about certain situations that came in depht to my attention thanks to his book. I agree with the idea that taxi driver or political leaders are not a onest and complete mirror of the state of things (talking for some minutes with these categories of citizen it is obviously not the same that would be living in a local family for a few years, but when you now it...), but they still are a contact with the community and for this pieces of local colture wherein you can read something. I didn't feel that this book want to be the "truth" about Soviet Union disgregation, it is just a great reportage.

Just wanted to chime in my two cents on "Fortune-Teller"--I've lived and travelled in Asia for the last 3 years, and Terzani's book is the only travel writing I've read that opened my eyes to ways of thinking outside the norm, the mundane, the Lonely Planet view of the world. Extremely worth seeking out.

Naturally, this leads me to wanting to read "Goodnight Mister Lenin", if it can be found. Anyone with a dogeared copy laying around, please let me know!

It was great to find this. My husband read it as a boy and wanted to find a copy to read to our sons.

This is a touching story written from the perspective of a little Chinese boy and his journey home through war raveged territory. I've read it over 5 times (including each year to my 5th grade class) and it's sweetneess still brings tears to my eyes.

Boys can be picky readers, so I always take notes if they actually love a book. My 8 year old carried this book everywhere and told be about it every night for a week. Besides Redwall or Harry Potter, this is the first book he has raved about.

I read this book aloud to my sixth grade reading class. They loved it, and always wanted to hear more. Its also a great way to introduce students to some of the history of China, Japan and US involvement in the war there.

I read this book as a child and, in turn, read it to my children. It has a permanent place in our hearts. It is the well written story of a young Chinese boy and his beloved pig, "Glory of the Republic", who get separated from his family and caught behind Japanese lines when Japan invaded China in the late 1930's. It has some very scary moments. It also has tragedy. I think your child should be about 5th or 6th grade to be able to fully appreciate it. But the book will open your eyes as to what it might be like as a child to be caught in a war. The boy does get reunited with his family, but have your kleenex handy. As a parent you will definitely need it at the end.

This book is very good...It is well written and a fast read. I could not put it down.
The story is gut-wrenching and I have come away, once again, very angry and frustrated with out goverment!
It tells a story of a POW'S wife and her quest for the "real" truth behind her husband's disappearance. The lengths she has gone to to get answers are unreal. She is a hero herself for standing up and never giving up.
This is one of my more favorite books regarding the Vietnam Pow's.

I love my country and I couldn't be more proud to have served two and a half decades in its military. But neither our government nor our military are perfect. Sometimes the mistakes and transgressions are small, and sometimes they're enormous.

Barbara Birchim and Sue Clark pull back the sheets and reveal one of the really big ones. Maybe the biggest of them all -- the calculated decision of our leaders, past and present, to turn their backs on the POWs and MIAs who are still missing.

Barbara's husband, Army Captain Jim Birchim, has been missing in action since something went terribly wrong during a rescue mission in Vietnam in 1968. The story of Barbara's search for details about Captain Birchim's disappearance will break your heart and chill your soul. The response of our own government to her relentless inquiries will shock you to the core.

- Jeff Edwards, award-winning author of Torpedo

Orin Deforest titled his book on Viet-Nam failures in intelligence Slow Burn: The Rise and Bitter Fall of American Intelligence in Vietnam. George Allen wrote the definite story in None So Blind: A Personal Account of the Intelligence Failure in Vietnam. Michael Hiam illuminated the "reasonable dishonesty" of our intelligence process in Who the Hell Are We Fighting?: The Story of Sam Adams and the Vietnam Intelligence Wars.

I have read one previous book on the POWs, Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POWs in Vietnam but this book, in combination with An Enormous Crime: The Definitive Account of American POWs Abandoned in Southeast Asia makes me very very very angry.

This book is a heart-breaking contrast between the loyalty and love of a woman for her man, and the pathological betrayal by the U.S. Government. We now know that Henry Kissinger is a war criminal (see The Trial of Henry Kissinger, that Johsnon covered up the assassination of Kennedy by CIA-trained Cuban exiles (see Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History and I am personally persuaded that 9-11 was, as Webster Tarpley tells us 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition.

I recommend all these books to those who would wish to restore the Constitution, smash the corruption of both the Congress (see Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It) and the Executive (see Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency).

Our government, at the political level and with the complicity of our craven flag officers--generals and admirals--is murdering and abandoning American warriors and citizens. ENOUGH! We need complete transparency, and several truth and reconciliation commissions: on the genociding of the Native Americans, on the continued discrimination against people of color, on the virtual colonialism, unilateral militarism, and predatory immoral capitalism that our government embraces "in our name."

ENOUGH. This book had really frightened, and empowered me. ENOUGH.

See also:
Why We Fight
The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin

PEOPLE OF THE US PLEASE LISTEN. IV SPOKEN TO ALOT OF VETS-INTERVIEWED THEM AND THEYRE VERY UPSET ABOUT HOW THE US GOVERNMENT LEFT ALOT OF VETS BEHIND. AND TO THE VETS WHO GOT AWAY, THE VERY SAME GOVERNMENT GAVE UP ON THEM ALSO- WHEN THEY REACHED THESE SHORES IN THE US. JOHN MCCAIN IS A CROOK. GEORGE BUSH IS A CROOK. AND A LIST OF OTHERS. GET THE BOOK AN ENORMOUS CRIME. QUESTAIN? WHY DIDNT ANY OF BUSH'S FAMILY FIGHT IN THIS MOST RECENT WAR? WHEN HE WAGED IT?

I HAVE READ A NUMBER OF BOOKS ON VIETNAM POW ACCOUNTS: COL NICK ROWES' 5 YEARS TO FREEDOM, FRANK ANTON- WHY DIDN'T YOU GET ME OUT? KISS THE BOYS GOODBYE & SPITE HOUSE BY MONIKA JENSEN- STEVENSON, AND THE MEN WE LEFT BEHIND. This is a heart breaking account of seeking the truth through the govt. red tape. Evidence supports the fact that we left servicemen behind in Laos and Cambodia. As former military, I am deeply saddened by what appears to be true. Through the pipeline, President Reagan was the last Commander in Chief to sanction rescue missions into S.E. Asia to search for POW s. Former SPEC OP WARRIORS are very tight lipped on this subject. Former Special Forces Sgt. Isaac Camacho escaped from Laos in 1965 and was never debriefed until the early seventies. Only a handful of military men escaped from captivity during the Vietnam War. Why did the govt. never utilize their knowledge? General Tighe, former director of the Defense Intell. Agency 1974 - 1981 has stated that he believed we had indeed left servicemen behind.

Be prepared, reading these books can hit you with emotion, I believe you will learn of a sad chapter in U.S. history- servicemen who deserved better from their government for their efforts during the Vietnam War.

Deeply insightful and elegantly written, Donald Richie's books deserve a place on the shelf of everyone interested discovering a Japan seen through the eyes of a brilliant and sympathetic observer immersed in the culture.

What a life lived. For almost sixty years, Richie, born and raised in Ohio, watched one of the most fascinating countries in the world, Japan, change from a defeated enemy to a global powerhouse. As a writer, he had the wisdom in his youth to begin keeping detailed journals of his thoughts and adventures in Tokyo and beyond. Unlike many of my journal entries, Richie's are beautifully written and thoughtful, and the people he met and the insights he provides on Japan make for good reading. Although some of the journal entries are truly gems, others can be dull, if not too personal. It was in search for Richie's telling observations regarding Japan and its people that compelled me to continue reading. I would recommend this book for those who are knowledgeable of Japan, its people, language and history. Without such background, the book would not be as interesting. Overall, though, this is a good book by a man who lived life the way he wanted to and lived to write about it.

I usually start reading diaries with a sense of excitement, an eagerness for revelation, life revealed in the small changes and observations over time. But I am often disappointed. Not with Richie. Detailed, poetic, observant and honest--he makes me laugh and cry. Here is the shape of life--youth, sex, love, change, aging, death--as it is too rarely depicted--full of magic and awe even in the banal. Even if you have no interest in Japan, or in film, you will like this book because of what it shows us about life.

I have only known Donal Richie as a film scholar having admired his commentaries on Bresson and Ozu DVDs. Naturally, I bacame interested in the man himself who continues to live in Japan. In this journal, he meets such notables as Kawabata, Kurosawa, Takemitsu, but what is more interesting is his interaction and friendship with regular people. Mr. Richie goes to a park in Tokyo (his usual hang out) and talks to a homeless, gives him his hamburger. He also befriends local prostitutes while he is also a guest of honor at emperors's palace. What is unique about this journal is that he tells as it is. Unlike some autobiography, Mr. Richie does not try to convince readers, does not explain, does not try to defend his actions, or does not offer advice. He simply dscribes his observation both his own personal life and what he sees and happens to him living in Japan as it moves from war destruction to economic bubble, and to decay.

Writer Donald Ritchie, an expert on Japanese film and a keen observer of that interesting country, has distilled nearly sixty years of life as an expatriate into these fascinating journals. Ritchie emerges as a deep thinker and lover of high culture who derives equal satisfaction from indulging his "taste for the mud" (it sounds much more poetic in French), which takes him to sex clubs, prostitutes, and other similarly disreputable places for which he holds a healthy admiration. His endless curiosity about matters and people both high and low is a strong point of this book, providing a well-rounded portrait of both a society and a man's life.

I enjoyed seeing Japan through Ritchie's eyes from his first days in the country during the American occupation up through the years of reconstruction, the boom years of the 80s, and the bursting of the bubble. He notes the many changes in the people and is quite honest about his own feelings concerning his privileged position as a foreigner, never fully accepted but also not subject to the same severe social strictures to which Japanese hold each other. Among the many highlights of this fine book are the long train trip across the country that Ritchie takes during the days of the occupation, his friendship with Yukio Mishima as well as many other distinguished people, and his closely observed opinions on the evolution of Japan's stance toward the foreigner. A fine read, particularly recommended to those with an interest in Japan.