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 enlarge | Author: Lea Jacobson
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.46
You Save: $12.49 (50%)
New (31) Used (8) Collectible (1) from $12.24
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 206145
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312368976
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.292092
EAN: 9780312368975
ASIN: 0312368976
Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-9 of 9 | | « PREV | | |
 One of a kind June 18, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Just finished the book. I picked it up in the first place because I was on a quest to read everything ever written about hostessing; this book was by far the best source of information and insight into the floating world.
The author's writing style is neither too much nor too little. I could imagine how a book about a hostessing could get messy with lots of flowery detail and description, but Jacobson maintains a great balance. I appreciated her metaphors and anecdotes, and found that her analysis of herself and other characters was sensible and interesting.
Strongly recommended to anyone with interest in the subject. Hard to put down and no boring moments!
 A Life in tokyo June 18, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Lea Jacobson's memoir is subtitled " My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess."
I'm a sucker for a good memoir and this one sounded really interesting.
Jacobson is an American fascinated with Japanese culture and language. Her studies have made her quite proficient in the language, so she accepts a teaching position in Japan. Her visa is good for two years.
Learning the culture through a book and experiencing it firsthand are two different things though. Jacobson has difficulty accepting the rigid standards and structures of Japanese society. She is fired from her teaching position and begins to drift.
She ends up hostessing in a Tokyo nightclub. I think like most people I had some preconceived notions as to what hostessing entailed. Jacobson gives a detailed account of this profession. In fact her memoir reads as a diary, detailing friends, encounters and thoughts. We are offered a fascinating glimpse into Japan from someone living fully immersed in the culture.
This immersion begins to take it's toll on Jacobson. She descends into alcoholism and self harm in many forms. She realizes she needs out and returns to the US, but is just as disillusioned there, and returns to Japan.
Jacobson ends her book with the Japanese saying" Fall over seven times, wake up eight." She manages to pull it together. I found myself wanting a bit more concrete detail from the epilogue, but found her blog which ties up things a bit more.
 Not bad, but not spectacular June 12, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I enjoyed the mini-lessons about Japanese language and culture, however, I found this book to be written simplistically and with a lot of excessive detail that was unrelated to the storyline itself. I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary "fluffy anecdotes" that left me wondering about their significance, instead of relevant details.
Additionally, the beginning of the book was lacking in character development. As I read the good and bad things that happened to Lea, I was not invested enough in her character to really care. I felt no emotion throughout the entire book, but I finished it anyway because it was a fast read.
I do not recommend this book.
honest and insightful April 24, 2008
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
In this book, Jacobson reveals a side of Japan that hardly gets any attention. An educated Japanophile with a keen eye for detail, she travels through the seedy and fascinating night time world of Tokyo, and takes us along for the ride. She shows us a dream world where beautiful girls in slinky dresses entertain red-faced, drunk business men. And she doesn't flinch when the dream shatters into a million ugly pieces.
Jacobson becomes an expert at flirting and coddling men for her benefit. However, as an educated woman from the land of opportunity, she ultimately realizes that she really should know better. Luckily for us, she gets up to a lot of adventures before she does. Fun, then devastating, and finally inspiring, you will not regret buying this book.
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