This is the second of my three summer readings – I have not finished the third and we had to come home.

This is a short paperback travelogue based on the author’s travel with his son to Japan to learn more about manga and anime.  He interviewed the authors and publishers of several hit mangas and anime – Akira, Mobile Suit Gundam, Grave of the Fireflies, My friend Totoro, etc.  Although the covered mangas were extremely popular back in the 90’s and can rightfully be considered as classics, the discussions felt a bit shallow even though the author was admittedly just trying to discover the subject himself.  A discourse about the origin and possible meanings of “otaku” (お 宅) was interesting.  The author is a two-time Man Booker prize winner, nominated again but did not win this year. This book is however slight both in story and style.  Not bad but not recommendable.  The cover shown above is that of the UK edition which is what I read.