Wrong about Japan : a father's journey with his son / Peter Carey.
"When famously shy Charley becomes obsessed with Japanese manga and anime, Peter Carey is not only delighted for his son but also entranced himself. Thus begins a journey, with a father sharing his twelve-year-old's exotic comic books, that ultimately leads them to Tokyo, where a strange J...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Knopf,
2005.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
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| Summary: | "When famously shy Charley becomes obsessed with Japanese manga and anime, Peter Carey is not only delighted for his son but also entranced himself. Thus begins a journey, with a father sharing his twelve-year-old's exotic comic books, that ultimately leads them to Tokyo, where a strange Japanese boy will become both their guide and judge. Quickly the visitors plunge deep into the lanes of Shitimachi - into the "weird stuff" of modern Japan - meeting manga artists and anime directors; painstaking impersonators called "visualists," who adopt a remarkable variety of personae; and solitary otakus, whose existence is thoroughly computerized. What emerges from these encounters is a far-ranging study of history and of culture both high and low - from samurai to salaryman, from Kabuki theater to the postwar robot craze. Peter Carey's observations are always provocative, even when his hosts point out, politely, that he is once again wrong about Japan. And his adventures with Charley are at once comic, surprising, and deeply moving, as father and son cope with and learn from each other in a strange place far from home." "This is, in the end, a portrait of a culture - whether Japan or adolescence - that looks eerily familiar but remains tantalizingly closed to outsiders."--BOOK JACKET. "In 2002 author Peter Carey traveled to Japan, accompanied by his twelve-year-old son Charley, on a special kind of pilgrimage." "In a memoir-cum-travelogue Peter Carey charts this journey, inspired by Charley's passion for manga and anime, and explores his own resulting re-evaluation of Japan. Although graphically violent and disturbing, the two mediums are both inherently concerned with Japan's rich history and heritage, and hold a huge popular appeal that crosses the generations." "Led by their adolescent guide Takashi, an uncanny mix of generosity and derision, father and son look for the hidden puzzles and meanings, searching, often with comic results, for a greater understanding of these art forms, and for what they come to refer to as their own 'real Japan'. From Manhattan to Tokyo, Commodore Perry to Godzilla, kabuki theatre to the post-war robot craze, Wrong about Japan is a personal, witty and moving exploration of two very different cultures."--BOOK JACKET. |
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| Physical Description: | 158 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm |
| ISBN: | 1400043115 9781400043118 1400078369 9781400078363 |