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Author's first novel. The unnamed narrator, an English expatriot working in Tokyo, prides himself on the authenticity of his immersion into Japanese culture. He knows the subtleties of the language, the right clubs to go to at night, and he has been "cultivating an interest in" the Japanese poet Dazai Osamu. Condescending to other expatriots who have not yet reached this level, he nonetheless befriends Alistair Meadowlark, a tall, bulky Englishman. Soon Meadowlark has become enamored of one of the local girls, the 16-year-old Sachiko. Vain and materialistic, Sachiko is a social climber who worships pop culture. The ideals and values of the three main characters clash: the narrator with his pretensions to being totally immersed in Japanese culture; Sachiko, with her unabashed ambition; and Meadowlark, who at first clings to his veneer of English respectability but soon cracks and renounces English life and values. A fascinating first novel that examines how much one's sense of self is defined by one's own culture and the different kinds of effects a foreign culture has on that sense of self. -Kristine Huntley, Booklist