- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Pan Books; New edition edition (7 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330368451
- ISBN-13: 978-0330368452
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 11.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 401,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
At first glance, a novel that promises to expose the unethical practices of the American meat industry may not be at the top of your reading list, but Ruth Ozeki's debut, My Year of Meatsis well worth a second look. Like the author, the novel's protagonist, Jane Takagi-Little, is a Japanese-American documentary filmmaker; like Ozeki, who was once commissioned by a beef lobbying group to make television shows for the Japanese market, Jane is invited to work on a Japanese television show meant to encourage beef consumption via the not-so-subliminal suggestion that prime rib equals a perfect family:
TO: AMERICAN RESEARCH STAFFThe series, My American Wife!, initially seems like a dream come true for Jane as she criss-crosses the United States filming a different American family each week for her Japanese audience. Naturally, the emphasis is on meat, and Ozeki has fun with bizarre recipes such as rump roast in coke and beef fudge; but as Jane becomes more familiar with her subject, she becomes increasingly aware of the beef industry's widespread practice of using synthetic oestrogens on their cattle and determines to sabotage the programme.
FROM: Tokyo Office
DATE: January 5, 1991
RE: My American Wife!...
Here is list of IMPORTANT THINGS for My American Wife!.
DESIRABLE THINGS:
1. Attractiveness, wholesomeness, warm personality
2. Delicious meat recipe (NOTE: Pork and other meats is second class meats, so please remember this easy motto: "Pork is Possible, but Beef is Best!")
3. Attractive, docile husband
4. Attractive, obedient children
5. Attractive, wholesome lifestyle
6. Attractive, clean house...
UNDESIRABLE THINGS:
1. Physical imperfections
2. Obesity
3. Squalor
4. Second class peoples
Cut to Tokyo where Akiko Ueno struggles through the dull misery of life with her brutish husband, who happens to be in charge of the show's advertising. After seeing one of Jane's subversive episodes about a vegetarian lesbian couple, Akiko gets in touch and the two women plot to expose the meat industry's hazardous practices. Romance, humour, intrigue, and even a message--My Year of Meats has it all. This is a book that even a vegetarian would love. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'I had started my year as a documentarian. I wanted to tell the truth, to effect change, to make a difference. And up to a point, I had succeeded... I am haunted by all the things - big things and little things - that threaten to slip through the cracks, untold, out of history.'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this book unputdownable. This story follows Jane Takagi-Little's Year of Meat as she puts together a weekly television show for Japanese audiences promoting the so called 'wholesomeness' and healthiness of American meat, in particular beef. At the same time we follow a Japanese housewife's sad life in Tokyo and how she is changed by this show which she is told to watch by her brutal, dreadful husband. It sounds like an unlikely story to be riveted by, but I promise, it really is.
A friend of mine recommended this book to me as I have been, for the last 18 months or so, eating only organic food. I had been told about the hormones and antibiotics present in non-organic meat and dairy products, but didn't realise I knew so little about it until I read My Year of Meat. Having been a dedicated carnivore for most of my 32 years, I am now seriously considering turning totally vegetarian.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is more about culture and femininity than it is about meat, although the meat, like the sex, is a tantalizing treat that keeps reappearing; at times satisfying, at other times revolting. As an American who lives in Japan, I was particularly impressed with Ozeki's ability to show America through the eyes of her Japanese characters to whom concepts like infidelity and lesbianism have very different meanings than they do to Westerners. Ozeki isn't afraid to go against trendy American politically-correct sensibilities. This is both brave and necessary. When dealing with cross-cultural communication, cultural faux pas and misinterpretations are inevitable, and not to include them would be a cheat. Ozeki demonstrates her insight into the differences between Japanese and American culture, and through that, and through the relationship troubles of her two protagonists, a Japanese woman and an American woman, we can also find out what makes us all the same. I highly recommend this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am only twelve but I loved this book, because it is so well written, but when I told my class mates about it they just laughed at me because of the title. But I don't care because I think its a wicked book and I would recommend it to people of all ages. Also, you don't have to be interested in meats to read it !
Thanks for reading my reveiw, I hope I have persuaded you to read it!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One to recommend to all your friends
I was unexpectedly impressed with this book. From when I first picked it up I could not put this book down and have since gone on to search out other titles by the author, little... Read more
Published on 3 July 2006 by Tina Johnson
assured and pacey
A book with a message? That could have had me - and probably many others - legging it in the opposite direction. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2004 by Is
Food for thought
This book was a complete discovery, the subject is at times fairly serious but the author treats it with a certain lightness which makes it all the more enjoyable. Read more
Published on 24 April 2001
Contrived, naive and simplistic
This book looked so appealing. The premise was fantastic, the cover was funky. And I'm a vegetarian too. Read more
Published on 23 July 2000
The best book I have read in a long, long time.
The book covers so many topics, the two heroines, the American meat industry, Americans, Japanese, relationships. And it is so well written, this writer really knows her stuff.
Published on 31 May 2000
THIS IS A DEFINATE "MUST READ"
To begin with I was slightly put off by the title, but as soon as I started to read the first chapter I found it very difficult to put this book down. Read more
Published on 28 May 2000
A brilliant book
This book is so well written and takes you to places you don't expect it to when you start reading. It's unusual title might put some people off buying this book - but I cannot... Read more
Published on 24 Jun 1999
I didn't put it down till I finished it
A charming story from the point of view of 2 women, showing the effects people can have on each others' lives via TV across the world. There is a message here too... Read more
Published on 29 Oct 1998
Meat is murder... but what about the poor vegetables?
This book left me with two overwheliming emotions. One, a deep admiration for Ruth L Ozeki who comes across from these pages as sensitive, intelligent and comitted to her ideal... Read more
Published on 27 Oct 1998
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