false<![CDATA[My Year of Meats]]>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166501285m/12349.jpg1234915At 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, <I>My Year of Meats</I> is 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 STAFF
FROM: Tokyo Office
DATE: January 5, 1991
RE: <I>My American Wife!</I>...
<p> Here is list of IMPORTANT THINGS for <I>My American Wife!</I>
<p> 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...<p>
UNDESIRABLE THINGS:
1. Physical imperfections
2. Obesity
3. Squalor
4. Second class peoples
<p> The series, <I>My American Wife!</I>, initally 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 out-there 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 estrogens on their cattle and determines to sabotage the program. <P> 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, humor, intrigue, and even a message--<I>My Year of Meats</I> has it all. This is a book that even a vegetarian would love.2652181998My Year of Meatstotal:2477|5:645|4:1116|3:562|2:127|1:27|24779656309840733falsefalseTue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008Tue Jan 15 23:07:55 -0800 2008Thu Jan 24 15:39:28 -0800 2008
"Sometimes Akiko felt like a thief, sneaking through the desolate corners of her ow...more...]]>
51falsefalseTue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Tue Nov 04 14:23:50 -0800 2008Wed Dec 17 08:12:12 -0800 2008five times
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51falsefalseMon Apr 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008Thu Apr 24 09:33:01 -0700 2008Mon Apr 28 21:06:03 -0700 2008 ...more...]]>
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01falsefalseWed Apr 18 12:09:34 -0700 2007Wed Apr 18 12:09:46 -0700 2007 Jane Takagi-Little, by trade a documentary filmmaker, by nature a truth seeker, is "racially half," Japanese and American, and, as she tells us, "neither here nor there..." Jane is sharp-edged, desperate for a job, and determined not to fall in love ...more...]]>
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51falsefalseSun Mar 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009Tue Mar 17 11:36:51 -0700 2009Sun Mar 22 09:16:26 -0700 2009
Read this...then quit eating meat.]]>
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40falsetrueThu Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2009Thu Jan 29 05:54:00 -0800 2009Thu Jan 29 06:17:29 -0800 2009 I really like books like this that have a international/cross cultural feel, that are told through the experiences of people who are a point of cont...more...]]>
40falsefalseThu Aug 03 00:00:00 -0700 2006Thu May 14 21:33:50 -0700 2009Thu May 14 21:34:32 -0700 2009 First of all Ruth Ozeki's writing style is lovely-- she's very talented. Secondly, the characters she created in this novel are so interesting, vivid and thoughtful that you won't soon forget them when you've finished the book.
The book tells ...more...]]>
40falsefalseThu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008Sun Nov 23 12:41:37 -0800 2008Wed Nov 26 07:10:19 -0800 20081
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31falsetrueMon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009Sat Oct 10 16:10:26 -0700 2009Mon Oct 12 23:59:50 -0700 2009 Film documentarian Jane Takagi-Little intends to film a faux reality TV series for Japanese viewers called "My American Wife," spotlighting beef in the American diet. The show is sponsored by Beef-Ex (...more...]]>
40falsefalseSat Nov 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008Wed Nov 26 06:59:38 -0800 2008Sun Nov 30 11:35:40 -0800 2008
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My American Wife!, which is actually sponsored by the American Beef Lobby and is to be used to convince Japanese housewives to cook the beef-and-pork laden recipes cooked by "wholesome"...more...]]>
50falsefalseSat Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009Sat Sep 05 08:55:44 -0700 2009Sat Sep 05 09:07:35 -0700 2009
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50falsefalseThu May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009Thu May 21 13:23:03 -0700 2009Thu May 28 16:42:23 -0700 2009 The no...more...]]>
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