Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre:
Travel Memoir
Approximate
word count: 55-60,000
words
Availability
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on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Elliott
lives in Tokyo in a shoebox-sized apartment. In his free time and
while at his 9-5 job, if he can get away with it or not, he likes to
read, write, and daydream of new adventures he'd like to set out on,
like skateboarding across Cuba and riding a donkey across China with
an Italian guy named Ramon, who lives off bananas.”
Description:
“After
working in an Alaskan oilfield, Elliott settled in Tokyo, with a job
at an English conversation school and a loving girlfriend, Zucchini.
But Elliott got tired of settling and decided to do something new,
something fun—quit his job and skateboard through Japan end-to-end
in 46 days.
With
the help of Japan’s 17,569 7-Elevens and lots of rice, Elliott
embarks on his epic journey. Join Elliott in his adventure through
the mountains, over cracks, and under rain, as he escapes snakes,
wild pigs, and bears.
If
you’re looking for another profound travel memoir all about finding
yourself, this might not be the book for you. But if you’re looking
for an exciting, funny exploration of one man’s love of Japan,
you’re in for a wild skate.”
Appraisal:
As
anyone who regularly reads my reviews knows by now, I'm a fan of the
travel memoir in all its forms. If its basis is an epic quest whether
driving the length of the continent, hiking border to border, or
biking across Europe, I'm there. If someone wrote a book about
setting out to eat at all the Taco Bells in South Dakota, I'd give it
a try. Wild Tanuki
with its tale of skateboarding the length of Japan seems like it
should be a perfect fit. The reality is mixed.
Some
of the things I like to read about in a book like this were covered.
Among these were the logistics, both the anticipated issues that were
planned for and those that weren't (like wearing out shoes fast)
along with how the author overcame those roadblocks. I like comparing
the area being traversed and the people the author interacts with to
my own world and experiences – answering questions like: What
things are the same about the people and places and what is
different? What parts of the authors experience surprised me?
Last,
I'm interested in getting an idea of the author's reaction to the
experience. This may be profound, or not, but no one subjects
themselves to this kind of trip without coming away with some
lessons, even if it is only the realization that they'd never do that
again. The author does a good job in the epilogue putting the
experience and what he got from it in perspective.
However,
there were a couple things that overshadowed the good for me. First
is the need for a more through copyediting and proofreading job to
shake out the many typos, grammar issues, and unclear sentences that
made it into the final version. Second is, well here's an example,
edited to hopefully make it past the various censors:
In
front of the shrine, I threw 20 cents into a box, rang the bell, and
bowed with my hands together while praying for a long life filled
with many <instances of being pleased orally>. I’m still in
my 20s and that consumes most of my thoughts. It means I’m healthy.
While
some may, I don't have an issue with that. I think most people
understand that a normal guy in his 20s is probably going to be
obsessed with sex. In case they don't remember, a reminder like this
is fine. Maybe even a couple of them. However, there comes a point
where it's beating a dead horse, telling the reader what they already
know and doing nothing to move the story forward. This was especially
true in the author's apparent obsession with pleasuring himself,
speaking of dead horses. There were also times where the way the
story was told, whether explicitly sexual or not, went over the line
for me to the point of being offensive, some would say misogynistic.
For example at one point he was feeling depressed, didn't know why,
but (in so many words) said that he knew it wasn't because he was a
woman at a certain point in her cycle.
Maybe
I'm a prude. More likely is much of the content had no place in a
book of this genre. However, I'm sure some subset of the potential
audience would be fine with this. If you're one of them, this review
should help point the way.
FYI:
Some
adult language and subjects.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Too
many typos and other copyediting or proofreading misses.
Rating:
** Two Stars
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