LEARNING TO BOW has been heralded as one of the funniest, liveliest, and most insightful books ever written about the clash of cultures between America and Japan. With warmth and candor, Bruce Feiler recounts the year he spent as a teacher in a small rural town. Beginning with a ritual outdoor bath and culminating in an all-night trek to the top of Mt. Fuji, Feiler teaches his students about American culture, while they teach him everything from how to properly address an envelope to how to date a Japanese girl.
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“A refreshingly original look at Japan . . . this book is a revelation.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A hilarious and revealing book [that] marks the debut of a formidable talent.” —James Fallows, Washington Editor of Atlantic Monthly
“Always fascinating and often funny . . . one of those rare books that shows the Japanese as fully rounded human beings.” —Washington Post
“Mark Salzman fans and other aficionados of things Eastern will love . . . Bruce Feiler’s LEARNING TO BOW.” —Elle
“Gems of insight and understanding.” —Rocky Mountain News
“An engaging book, LEARNING TO BOW earns higher marks than the usual scholarly analysis.” —Business Tokyo
“Filled with rich anecdotes that tell far more than dry, academic tomes on the same subject.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“A charming and incisive close-up of the most important part of the Japanese miracle- the making of a Japanese.” —Robert Elegant, author of Pacific Destiny
“Feiler’s book is warm, intimate, and often very funny, bringing much-needed insight into the Japanese grass-root culture and the role of education in that land.” —Kirkus Reviews
“As fascinating an account of Japanese life as you could find anywhere. . . . Don’t miss this one.” —Grand Rapids Press
