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Only in New York: An Exploration of the World's Most Fascinating, Frustrating and Irrepressible City by Sam Roberts
Less a narrative and more a collection of the author's podcasts with some footnotes to update the stories from their original air date. Roberts has a nose for NYC due to his time with the Daily News & NY Times and is an intriguing story teller. While this collection is somewhat dated-most pieces date from 2006-2008-the NYC they discuss has been present for the last 400 years and will likely be here in 400. Of particular interest were his stories on doormen, subways and the NYC pop culture connection. I didn't care for this as much as I did his [b:Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America|15018872|Grand Central How a Train Station Transformed America|Sam Roberts|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365990029s/15018872.jpg|21509819], but it was an enjoyable, quick read
3.0
“It comes down to this: Do you want to live in the greatest city in the U.S.A. or do you want to save $2,000 a year and live in the suburbs of St. Louis? It sure sounds like some of you are disappointed in New York because you never figured out how to live here.”Read more at location 201
"These essays are about a city that too often forgets what its past has to offer and sometimes shortsightedly foregoes its future. New Yorkers are consumed with the present. Yet the chief constant in a city that began celebrating its quadricentennial in 2009 is change"
Less a narrative and more a collection of the author's podcasts with some footnotes to update the stories from their original air date. Roberts has a nose for NYC due to his time with the Daily News & NY Times and is an intriguing story teller. While this collection is somewhat dated-most pieces date from 2006-2008-the NYC they discuss has been present for the last 400 years and will likely be here in 400. Of particular interest were his stories on doormen, subways and the NYC pop culture connection. I didn't care for this as much as I did his [b:Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America|15018872|Grand Central How a Train Station Transformed America|Sam Roberts|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365990029s/15018872.jpg|21509819], but it was an enjoyable, quick read
Monday Mornings by Sanjay Gupta
4.0
I was a big fan of ER when it aired, and this read like an episode or three of the show -- especially Park's GBM. Hello, Mark Greene. I felt the characters had good depth and grew appropriately attached to them, I especially liked El Gato.
I felt Gupta rushed the end and tried to tie up everything too quickly and the time line skipped around a little too much -- Tina was attacked on the same night Gato broke up a fight between her attacker and his gf several chapters before? Overall, a nice, light read and I'd read more alone these lines.
I felt Gupta rushed the end and tried to tie up everything too quickly and the time line skipped around a little too much -- Tina was attacked on the same night Gato broke up a fight between her attacker and his gf several chapters before? Overall, a nice, light read and I'd read more alone these lines.
Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler
Old review, I read while inJapan in 2006:
As a statement to how busy I've been lately, it took me nearly two weeks to read this book, shocking considering if a book takes me that long it's usually not worth it and this one was.
While I was glad for the insight this book gave me into a non-city JHS in the 90s and the glimpse into the student's mindset before they're utterly brainwarped by the time I get them at 8-9 PM, it also made me doubly glad I opted not to do JET either time. I couldn't cope! I did enjoy how it was a mix of "Mr. Bruce"'s views as well as those of his colleagues and students.
Living English may be alive in the hearts of government officials in Tokyo, but it has no life in Sano.
Nor does it have much life even ten years later. While it's true that I don't generally enjoy JHS and HS students, I have gotten some interesting views on English from them. Also make me consider my motives for studying Japanese and its uses in my world.
It, like Alex Kerr's Lost Japan, is one of those books that makes me really stop and think about the Japan I know v. Japan out of the cities. It's also one that's prone to making me stop and think and realise "I'm in Japan" a fact that I must admit escapes me more often than I'd have thought possible.
His chapter on juku, and I like how he layed out the book according to his own experiences--and tied extra stuff in, like the juku around entrance exam time, as appropriate--got me thinking a lot on the business of English. For all the criticism about the Big4, they fill a demand in the Japanese market. Having had some JH and HS English teachers in my classes, it no longer surprises me about the state of English in this country. Still kudos for the effort.
But what I thought as his central tenet came so late...Everybody says that our students have to learn to live in a world that is larger than just Japan. But first, our teachers have to learn that this world exists. 100% agreed, part of the cycle here as elsewhere in the world is that until the circle of 'how it's been done' is broken, it's hard to teach the unknown.
5.0
Old review, I read while inJapan in 2006:
As a statement to how busy I've been lately, it took me nearly two weeks to read this book, shocking considering if a book takes me that long it's usually not worth it and this one was.
While I was glad for the insight this book gave me into a non-city JHS in the 90s and the glimpse into the student's mindset before they're utterly brainwarped by the time I get them at 8-9 PM, it also made me doubly glad I opted not to do JET either time. I couldn't cope! I did enjoy how it was a mix of "Mr. Bruce"'s views as well as those of his colleagues and students.
Living English may be alive in the hearts of government officials in Tokyo, but it has no life in Sano.
Nor does it have much life even ten years later. While it's true that I don't generally enjoy JHS and HS students, I have gotten some interesting views on English from them. Also make me consider my motives for studying Japanese and its uses in my world.
It, like Alex Kerr's Lost Japan, is one of those books that makes me really stop and think about the Japan I know v. Japan out of the cities. It's also one that's prone to making me stop and think and realise "I'm in Japan" a fact that I must admit escapes me more often than I'd have thought possible.
His chapter on juku, and I like how he layed out the book according to his own experiences--and tied extra stuff in, like the juku around entrance exam time, as appropriate--got me thinking a lot on the business of English. For all the criticism about the Big4, they fill a demand in the Japanese market. Having had some JH and HS English teachers in my classes, it no longer surprises me about the state of English in this country. Still kudos for the effort.
But what I thought as his central tenet came so late...Everybody says that our students have to learn to live in a world that is larger than just Japan. But first, our teachers have to learn that this world exists. 100% agreed, part of the cycle here as elsewhere in the world is that until the circle of 'how it's been done' is broken, it's hard to teach the unknown.
Lost Japan by Alex Kerr
4.0
2005 read while in Japan
Lost or non-existent, I'm really not sure which. So long has passed since Alex Kerr wrote this book that I'm not sure even his Japan exists anymore, but the book is still a great read. Loved the Osaka chapters and the acknowledgemnent that you can be a Japan-o-phile without worshipping the place.
The Japanese have always tended to treat foreigners like creatures from another universe.
100% agreed, a lot of Alex Kerr's 'existing Japan' thoughts are less relevant now but that, still entirely true. It's part of what I love about the country though, it really is. As is the Law of Palaver. I think if someone were ever to just stand up and make a decision, the others around would faint from surprise, it's just not how things are done.
And as I said earlier, I agree entirely with his thoughts on Osaka. The trip to Kyushu taught me that really, Japan isn't all that ugly. But you know what, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I love it here. Bumps and all. "It is the last bastion against the sea of ordinariness sweeping over Japan, and when it goes there will be many who miss it. In the words of Tamasaburo, 'The decline of Kyoto I can live with. But please, please, Osaka never change!'" One of the things I missed when I was gone was the unique culture, the dancers outside work, the goths at Osaka Castle Park on Sundays, the fun that is Osaka.
Love this country I really do.
Lost or non-existent, I'm really not sure which. So long has passed since Alex Kerr wrote this book that I'm not sure even his Japan exists anymore, but the book is still a great read. Loved the Osaka chapters and the acknowledgemnent that you can be a Japan-o-phile without worshipping the place.
The Japanese have always tended to treat foreigners like creatures from another universe.
100% agreed, a lot of Alex Kerr's 'existing Japan' thoughts are less relevant now but that, still entirely true. It's part of what I love about the country though, it really is. As is the Law of Palaver. I think if someone were ever to just stand up and make a decision, the others around would faint from surprise, it's just not how things are done.
And as I said earlier, I agree entirely with his thoughts on Osaka. The trip to Kyushu taught me that really, Japan isn't all that ugly. But you know what, I wouldn't live anywhere else. I love it here. Bumps and all. "It is the last bastion against the sea of ordinariness sweeping over Japan, and when it goes there will be many who miss it. In the words of Tamasaburo, 'The decline of Kyoto I can live with. But please, please, Osaka never change!'" One of the things I missed when I was gone was the unique culture, the dancers outside work, the goths at Osaka Castle Park on Sundays, the fun that is Osaka.
Love this country I really do.
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan by Will Ferguson
5.0
how did I read this almost 10 years ago to the day?
This book looks as if it were the one who hitchhiked from Kyushu to Hokkaido. I bought it used but now it's looking loved, which is fitting because I quite enjoyed the book.
While that came to be WF's symbol for the hanami, I think it can symbolise Japan all around. It's such a social culture geared torward going out as there is really no room to socialise in the home, and it's not that going out it expensive in and of itself, but it all adds up.
This book also has going for it what Roff Smith's [b:Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia|413354|Cold Beer and Crocodiles A Bicycle Journey into Australia|Roff Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387667138s/413354.jpg|402583]Cold Beer and Crocodiles did--it's made me curious to see more of a place, in this case Japan, than I'd initially dreamed of, but we'll see. I'm thinking of travelling around northern Japan before I leave. I didn't last time and this second chance is probably the last chance, so we'll see.
1000% agreed. I'd always said that Osaka didn't feel very Japanese until I went to Tokyo, which is so western it's not even funny. But now after having been to Fuji-san and Kyushu, Osaka is back to being barely Japanese. That's not bad and as I've said before, I love Osaka with all my heart and can't imagine living anywhere else in Japan, but at the same time I must admit I don't feel I'm getting as much of a Japanese experience as I could be. I loved the futsu train, both on JR and Hisatsu Orange from Kagoshima to Sendai and through Kumamoto to Nagasaki--the small towns, the coast, the ekibens--they just don't exist here. But then again what is Japan? I have no desire to hitchhike the country from end to end, but it was the first place I ever hitchhiked. (Mom/Dad, if you're reading this--it was 3 1/2 years ago so clearly I survived--and I wasn't silly enough to do it alone :) )
One of my fondest memories of the first stint in Japan was hanami in Himeji, which Rebecca and I went to soon after my return from Australia. It was also Japan at it's prettiest and I'd love to chase the sakura from Sata to Soya, but I think I'd do it from the comfort of futsu, I really would.
ARGH! I forever seek to ban my students from asking "What kind of Japanese food do you like?" and "Can you eat raw fish?" because you think they'd know by now that 90% of gaijin can and do love sushi. With natto it's bit more hit and miss, thank god my students don't see fit to ask about umeboshi, but you'd think by now the novelty in asking us this would have worn off?
While I haven't gotten as fed up as WF did re jozu desu ne, I get close. Yes I am gaijin (never in my time in Osaka have I heard gaijin-san!), yes I can speak chotto Nihongo. We all speak a hybrid of it. It leads to us speaking to others who invariable end up asking what nani, onsen, ryokan, etc mean and it's only then we realise that these words haven't always been in our vocabularies.
A year in Australia I coped fine with hostels but when it came time to face a skeevy youth hostel on Sakurajima or check myself into a ryokan in Kagoshima, I went with the extra money. It's funny how cheapness can disappear at times when one has a salary.
He skipped a lot of my favourite places in the Kansai area, but he did make it to Amanohashidate aka Bridge of Heaven, which has been on my list for sometime, however after his description I'm not entirely sure it's worth the effort to get there, so we will have to see. It was nice to hear about Sado, which has been on my 'to see' list ever since I saw the Kodo Drummers. He didn't go to some of the areas in East Japan that I am most curious about; Hakone and Nikko.
When he was waiting for the leprechauns, the TAkashi's to pick him up he mentioned how they'd passed him a few times before committing--that was the story of Rebecca's and my afternoon when we were trying to get back to Hotel Sunnide from Kawaguchiko proper. We watched this couple watch us from the restaurant window and then circle us before agreeing to a ride--I'd love to know what they hope to learn from us by circling.
He also went on to mention how Juroku Rakan aren't mentioned in any of his guidebooks but then I came to learn over the course of the Australia trip that the best places aren't. I'm thoroughly temple and shrined out and have no desire to see Kamakura or Ise really, but carved deities could be way cool.
Indeed, yet we always seem to end up doing this. I feel odd, almost untrue to myself if I mention having been to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet at the same time I feel odd mentioning it to my students. It's like a no-win.
And as for his final realisation. That surprised me and it didn't. You're never through with Japan, it has to be through with you otherwise it keeps clawing back at you. It did inspire me enough to go Googling but I still haven't tracked down how he finally made it back to the mainland.
This book looks as if it were the one who hitchhiked from Kyushu to Hokkaido. I bought it used but now it's looking loved, which is fitting because I quite enjoyed the book.
School enkai
You'll laugh, you'll cry--
Kiss inchi-man en good-bye
While that came to be WF's symbol for the hanami, I think it can symbolise Japan all around. It's such a social culture geared torward going out as there is really no room to socialise in the home, and it's not that going out it expensive in and of itself, but it all adds up.
This book also has going for it what Roff Smith's [b:Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia|413354|Cold Beer and Crocodiles A Bicycle Journey into Australia|Roff Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387667138s/413354.jpg|402583]Cold Beer and Crocodiles did--it's made me curious to see more of a place, in this case Japan, than I'd initially dreamed of, but we'll see. I'm thinking of travelling around northern Japan before I leave. I didn't last time and this second chance is probably the last chance, so we'll see.
You will find very little greenery in Japanese cities, true. But you will also find very little of Japan in most Japanese cities.
1000% agreed. I'd always said that Osaka didn't feel very Japanese until I went to Tokyo, which is so western it's not even funny. But now after having been to Fuji-san and Kyushu, Osaka is back to being barely Japanese. That's not bad and as I've said before, I love Osaka with all my heart and can't imagine living anywhere else in Japan, but at the same time I must admit I don't feel I'm getting as much of a Japanese experience as I could be. I loved the futsu train, both on JR and Hisatsu Orange from Kagoshima to Sendai and through Kumamoto to Nagasaki--the small towns, the coast, the ekibens--they just don't exist here. But then again what is Japan? I have no desire to hitchhike the country from end to end, but it was the first place I ever hitchhiked. (Mom/Dad, if you're reading this--it was 3 1/2 years ago so clearly I survived--and I wasn't silly enough to do it alone :) )
One of my fondest memories of the first stint in Japan was hanami in Himeji, which Rebecca and I went to soon after my return from Australia. It was also Japan at it's prettiest and I'd love to chase the sakura from Sata to Soya, but I think I'd do it from the comfort of futsu, I really would.
We talked about Japanese food for the rest of the way, agreeing wholeheartedly that foreigners can't possibly eat pickled plums or fermented beans or raw fish or horseradish
ARGH! I forever seek to ban my students from asking "What kind of Japanese food do you like?" and "Can you eat raw fish?" because you think they'd know by now that 90% of gaijin can and do love sushi. With natto it's bit more hit and miss, thank god my students don't see fit to ask about umeboshi, but you'd think by now the novelty in asking us this would have worn off?
I speak Japanese the way a bear dances. It's not that the bear dances well that impresses people, it's the fact that the bear dances at all.
While I haven't gotten as fed up as WF did re jozu desu ne, I get close. Yes I am gaijin (never in my time in Osaka have I heard gaijin-san!), yes I can speak chotto Nihongo. We all speak a hybrid of it. It leads to us speaking to others who invariable end up asking what nani, onsen, ryokan, etc mean and it's only then we realise that these words haven't always been in our vocabularies.
I believe that one of the signs of maturity is a dislike of youth hostels. When I was nineteen, I loved the rapport and collective energy. At twenty-five, I was starting to find it all very annoying. And now that I'd entered my thirties, it was all I could do not to go around arbitrarily slapping people in the head.
A year in Australia I coped fine with hostels but when it came time to face a skeevy youth hostel on Sakurajima or check myself into a ryokan in Kagoshima, I went with the extra money. It's funny how cheapness can disappear at times when one has a salary.
He skipped a lot of my favourite places in the Kansai area, but he did make it to Amanohashidate aka Bridge of Heaven, which has been on my list for sometime, however after his description I'm not entirely sure it's worth the effort to get there, so we will have to see. It was nice to hear about Sado, which has been on my 'to see' list ever since I saw the Kodo Drummers. He didn't go to some of the areas in East Japan that I am most curious about; Hakone and Nikko.
When he was waiting for the leprechauns, the TAkashi's to pick him up he mentioned how they'd passed him a few times before committing--that was the story of Rebecca's and my afternoon when we were trying to get back to Hotel Sunnide from Kawaguchiko proper. We watched this couple watch us from the restaurant window and then circle us before agreeing to a ride--I'd love to know what they hope to learn from us by circling.
He also went on to mention how Juroku Rakan aren't mentioned in any of his guidebooks but then I came to learn over the course of the Australia trip that the best places aren't. I'm thoroughly temple and shrined out and have no desire to see Kamakura or Ise really, but carved deities could be way cool.
One shouldn't talk about the war in Japan. This is one of the first rules of conversation. Every family has a litany of sorrows and a closet filled with skeletons. As often as not, Southeast Asian skeletons.
Indeed, yet we always seem to end up doing this. I feel odd, almost untrue to myself if I mention having been to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet at the same time I feel odd mentioning it to my students. It's like a no-win.
And as for his final realisation. That surprised me and it didn't. You're never through with Japan, it has to be through with you otherwise it keeps clawing back at you. It did inspire me enough to go Googling but I still haven't tracked down how he finally made it back to the mainland.
Concierge Confidential: The Gloves Come Off—and the Secrets Come Out! Tales from the Man Who Serves Millionaires, Moguls, and Madmen by Michael Fazio
4.0
Fazio goes from an agent's assistant in Hollywood to a cruise ship singer to a hotel concierge, and he's very readable in the process.
The people and stories are amazing - the Russian with a suitcase full of cash, fulfilling wishes on Whoopi's show, a chocolate bath. I also liked how he touched on the down sides - the crazies and how to handle. A fun and light read.
The people and stories are amazing - the Russian with a suitcase full of cash, fulfilling wishes on Whoopi's show, a chocolate bath. I also liked how he touched on the down sides - the crazies and how to handle. A fun and light read.
100 Things Giants Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Dave Buscema
4.0
This is the revised and updated edition that followed SB46 in 2012 and the book is heavy on memories from the Coughlin/Manning era. I felt I needed to read this on the heels of Coughlin's departure this week. There isn't a lot of new material here, it's predominantly old interviews weaved together but it's a nice walk down memory lane. He spoke a lot to the SB42 team and at times he even made me miss Shockey & Barber. Could have done without the Matt Dodge reminder. Somewhat sad too with the recent deaths of Ann Mara & Frank Gifford. I miss the Duke.
Fun, quick read.
Fun, quick read.
Blauäugig in Tokio : meine verrückten Jahre bei Mitsubishi by Niall Murtagh
4.0
Bought this a few weeks ago and apparently forgot to register it. Very good read - another different look at life in Japan, almost the male version of The Accidental Office Lady.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky
4.0
This was an interesting book and certainly among the better hospitality & tourism titles I've read recently, although the narrator isn't as strong as [b:Concierge Confidential: The Gloves Come Off—and the Secrets Come Out! Tales from the Man Who Serves Millionaires, Moguls, and Madmen|9147786|Concierge Confidential The Gloves Come Off—and the Secrets Come Out! Tales from the Man Who Serves Millionaires, Moguls, and Madmen|Michael Fazio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348052853s/9147786.jpg|14026680]
I didn't dislike "Thomas" as much as others did, but he did come off as a shallow trust fund kid, not unlike the ones he ranted about at one point. I liked him more in New Orleans before NYC jaded him, which I suppose was part of his point. The sad thing is? I know the Bellevue. I've seen it pre and post change and I feel some of his pain although I don't think some of his guests deserved such vitriol.
"Service is not about being up-front and honest. Service is about minimizing negatives and creating the illusion of perfection. Here’s how it’s done: Lie. Smile. Finesse. Barter. Convince. Lie again. Smile again."
In a lot of ways, that's also what the guest is about.
Not much in this book was groundbreaking but it was an entertaining read. I'd likely read something else by this author of he wrote more on the next chapters of his life.
I didn't dislike "Thomas" as much as others did, but he did come off as a shallow trust fund kid, not unlike the ones he ranted about at one point. I liked him more in New Orleans before NYC jaded him, which I suppose was part of his point. The sad thing is? I know the Bellevue. I've seen it pre and post change and I feel some of his pain although I don't think some of his guests deserved such vitriol.
"Service is not about being up-front and honest. Service is about minimizing negatives and creating the illusion of perfection. Here’s how it’s done: Lie. Smile. Finesse. Barter. Convince. Lie again. Smile again."
In a lot of ways, that's also what the guest is about.
Not much in this book was groundbreaking but it was an entertaining read. I'd likely read something else by this author of he wrote more on the next chapters of his life.
Alert by James Patterson
3.0
Oh my, this book was all over the map. The Day After Tomorrow in book form. What other calamity could strike New York City before hero Mike to the rescue?!? And of course super manny Martin saved his home life.
I love this series almost as much as I love the Women's Murder Club one, but this is getting a little ridiculous and far fetched. A half step behind a bad Law & Order fic. That said, I read it in two plus days and will read the next one because it's what I do. Please don't hurt Seamus though.
And never expected FDNY manhole work to scare me!
I loved that we rarely saw Mary Catherine in this one. I was a little over too much lovey dovey between she & Michael. And I won't lie, I was waiting for him to jump in bed with Emily again. Why the unaddressed letter from Mary Catherine. This whole piece was a little weird.
Speaking of weird. A tour guide on a Cape Verde Island who just happens to be an intricate part of the plot? Nope. That's where this one went completely off the rails to me.
I love this series almost as much as I love the Women's Murder Club one, but this is getting a little ridiculous and far fetched. A half step behind a bad Law & Order fic. That said, I read it in two plus days and will read the next one because it's what I do. Please don't hurt Seamus though.
And never expected FDNY manhole work to scare me!
Spoiler
I loved that we rarely saw Mary Catherine in this one. I was a little over too much lovey dovey between she & Michael. And I won't lie, I was waiting for him to jump in bed with Emily again. Why the unaddressed letter from Mary Catherine. This whole piece was a little weird.
Speaking of weird. A tour guide on a Cape Verde Island who just happens to be an intricate part of the plot? Nope. That's where this one went completely off the rails to me.