Audrey Hepburns Neck by Alan Brown (English) Paperback Book

Description: Audrey Hepburns Neck by Alan Brown A "dazzling debut" ("People"), Alan Browns novel tells the story of 23-year-old Toshi who moves to Tokyo, where he finds a thrilling metropolis full of Americans. "Intelligently and tenderly (braids) politics, war, laughter, and erotic and familial love".--"New York Newsday". FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Offering a unique perspective and unusual insight into modern Japan and its wartime past, Audrey Hepburns Neck is also a shrewd study of cross-cultural obsessions, and of erotic, romantic, and familial love.The American author Alan Brown crosses both racial and cultural lines to tell his story through the eyes of a young, handsome Japanese cartoonist, Toshiyuki ("Toshi") Okamoto, who traces his strong attraction to Western women back to his ninth birthday, when his mother took him to see Audrey Hepburn in the movie Roman Holiday. Leaving behind a sad, silent childhood—which was spent living in two rooms above the family noodle shop on an isolated peninsula in the far north of Japan—Toshi moves to Tokyo to pursue his career. There he falls under the spell of three Americans: his best friend and confidante, the generous and extroverted Paul, a gay advertising copywriter who has plenty of his romantic mishaps with Japanese men; Jane, his glamorous but emotionally unstable teacher at the Very Romantic English Academy, with whom Toshi has a hazardous sexual affair; and, finally, the lovely and talented composer, Lucy, with whom Toshi falls in love. The novel deftly moves back and forth between present and past, as Toshi explores his unhappy childhood, the reasons behind his mothers unexplained abandonment when he was eight years old, and her move to a seaside inn across the peninsula. As the novel draws to a close, tragic events, both public and personal, bring past and present together, revealing the painful truth of Toshis parents lives during World War II, and a secret in Toshis own past that, in the end, gives him the strength and knowledge to confront the future. Author Biography Alan Brown went to Japan in 1987 as a Fulbright journalist. He lived in Tokyo for seven years, writing for magazines and newspapers and reporting on culture for BBC Radio. His short fiction has appeared in New Directions anthologies and other publications. He lives in New York City. Review Janice Greene San Francisco Chronicle A fascinating first novel....Audrey Hepburns Neck is like origami, put together with grace and ingenuity.Mary Jo Salter Los Angeles Times Book Review On page after page, Browns touch, both as observer and stylist, is sure and accurate....Its a rare writer who combines such delicacy with a zany sense of humor....[an] acute and acutely funny novel.David Walton Minneapolis Star-Tribune Audrey Hepburns Neck is . . . a sweetly sentimental, smartly comical tale.... Very well-written and affecting... Truly pleasurable.... A sure-response winner. Long Description Offering a unique perspective and unusual insight into modern Japan and its wartime past,Audrey Hepburns Neckis also a shrewd study of cross-cultural obsessions, and of erotic, romantic and familial love.The American author Alan Brown crosses both racial and cultural lines to tell his story through the eyes of a young, handsome Japanese cartoonist, Toshiyuki ("Toshi") Okamoto, who traces his strong attraction to Western women bock to his ninth birthday, when his mother took him to see Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Roman Holiday."Leaving behind a sad, silent childhood -- which was spent living in two rooms above the family noodle shop on an isolated peninsula in the far north of Japan -- Toshi moves to Tokyo to pursue his career. There he falls under the spell of three Americans: his best friend and confidante, the generous and extroverted Paul, a gay advertising copywriter who has plenty of his romantic mishaps with Japanese men; Jane, his glamorous but emotionally unstable teacher at the Very Romantic English Academy, with whom Toshi has a hazardous sexual affair; and, finally, the lovely and talented composer, Lucy, with whom Toshi falls in love.The novel deftly moves back and forth between present and past, as Toshi explores his unhappy childhood, the reasons behind his mothers unexplained abandonment when he was eight years old, and her move to a seaside inn across the peninsula. As the novel draws to a close, tragic events, both public and personal, bring past and present together, revealing the painful truth of Toshis parents lives during World War II, and a secret in Toshis own past that, in the end, gives him the strength and knowledge to confront the future. Review Quote Mary Jo SalterLos Angeles Times Book ReviewOn page after page, Browns touch, both as observer and stylist, is sure and accurate....Its a rare writer who combines such delicacy with a zany sense of humor....[an] acute and acutely funny novel. Description for Reading Group Guide The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for discussion in your reading of Alan BrownsAudrey Hepburns Neck.We hope the following information will enrich your discussion and enjoyment of this book. Reading Group Discussion Points Brown, an American, chose to tell his story through the eyes of a Japanese protagonist. Why do you think he made that decision? Would he have been able to tell the same story as successfully from an American characters point of view?Some people feel that writers should stick to writing about what they know from their own experience. Do you think its valid for an author to cross lines of race and culture to tell a story? To inhabit a character from a different country? Why or why not? Whats to be gained by the author? The reader?Browns novel revolves around the eroticism of the "other" -- foreigners, foreign languages, foreign countries. What do you think is the attraction of the "other," and why is it so powerful of some people? What do you think they are looking for?Toshi, Paul and Jane are all searching for people -- Audrey Hepburn, Yukio Mishima, Toshira Mifune -- who only existed in books or on the movie screen. Do you agree that romantic and sexual attraction can be so irrational and powerful?There are more than a few different kinds of love inAudrey Hepburns Neck.Can you identify them and the authors feelings about them? Which relationship in the novel do you feel is the most successful? Why?Brown says that the Japan he writes of in his novel is not the real Japan, but a "hyper-real" Japan, one that "doesnt exist, but could exist." The contest for the Crown Princes bride and his romance with Brooke Shields, the foxes that sleep in trees, the rice riots -- are all made up, yet, according to the author, only slight extensions or exaggerations of the truth. Do you think this kind of fictionalizing of real people, places, and events is acceptable in a novel? Under what circumstances might it not be?Do you think Browns view of cross-cultural relationships is optimistic or pessimistic? Why? Do you feel that barriers of culture, race, and religion can be overcome in a relationship?Toshi feels that the skill most essential for talking with Americans is "how to interrupt." Jane and Hugh and Lucy talk "as if they are playing sports and someone is keeping score." Do you think this is true?Toshi says in response to a question about Ozu films, that "everything foreigners like about Japan was already over before Toshi was born." What do you think he means by that? What is it that attracts Americans to Japan? What are your impressions of Japan and how were they formed? Do you think theyre realistic?Brown has stated that living abroad in Japan has made him "patriotic" for the first fume. "I discovered who I was as an American." Is the authors patriotism evident inAudrey Hepburns Neck? If so, how does it manifest itself? Details ISBN0671526723 Author Alan Brown Short Title AUDREY HEPBURNS NECK Pages 304 Language English ISBN-10 0671526723 ISBN-13 9780671526726 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY FIC Year 1997 Birth 1944 DOI 10.1604/9780671526726 UK Release Date 1997-03-01 Imprint Gallery Place of Publication New York, NY Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 1997-03-01 NZ Release Date 1997-03-01 US Release Date 1997-03-01 Publisher Simon & Schuster Publication Date 1997-03-01 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:8292523;

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