It's been a while since I read my last book, so it was about time for me to get a firm hold of my neck and start reading something. The choice was pretty obvious: it had to be something that I have to read for school. I have a literature class going on, plus a BA essay to be done, so that leaves me with little time to spend on reading for plain amusement.
The book I chose, My Year of Meats, was actually amusing: I liked it, even though I kinda had to read it. I read it to gain a little insight on the thoughts and the ways of the author, Ruth Ozeki. Ozeki's a Japanese American writer, who usually writes novels that are part romantic or thrillers, part propagandist. By propagandist I mean that the themes usually revolve around a fault in the American way of life. In Ozeki's All Over Creation, which is the book I'm doing my BA on, the theme is genetic engineering of plants. In My Year of Meats it's the use of hormones in the cattle industry.
Anyway, in My Year of Meats the protagonist, Jane Takagi-Little, tells the story of her year working for the Beef industry (which gives the name to the novel). She's hired to drive around the continental U.S with a Japanese TV team and shoot a program on American wives preparing meals of meat. The program's called My American Wife!, and it's coming out in Japan, trying to promote the consumption of U.S. meat products.
That's about it. I liked the book, as well as AOC, which I've read with thought a few times. I think you should check both the books out. At least My Year of Meats has been translated into Finnish, under the title 'Lihan vuosi', or something.
-Mikkeri