To quote from the book, it's "not half bad - which is to say, it's not half good either." The story starts off about a band who has a bigger following in Japan than the US, so they go to Japan for a short tour. It quickly (and yet slowly?) becomes more of a coming-of-age for one of the band members, Brain. I can't say I was terribly interested by this book, but I felt compelled to see where it was going. Maybe it wasn't worth the journey... ( )

At turns crass and cerebral, "Big in Japan" captures the distinctive blend of ambivilence and desperation that characterizes the transition from childhood to adulthood.

It's risky to place an emotionally stunted character at the apex of a novel, and Brain Tesdesco is nothing if not stunted. But Gammarino imbued him with a naked vulnerability that was both endearing and relatable. Even when Brain's behavior crosses the line from self-defeating into selfish and cruel, I couldn't write him off as just another man behaving badly. His motivations were far too complex and his psyche too broken for me to turn on him. Gammarino deserves a world of credit for creating a character whose humanity is never eclipsed by his moronic behavior.

Brain's insatiable desire to do and be something more than the anxious, insecure, angry boy that he is leads him to a life of debauchery. He gluts himself on sex until the activity becomes toxic; a mechanical act that he no longer enjoys but can't bring himself to stop. At it's core "Big in Japan" isn't just a coming-of-age story. It isn't just about sex or sexism or fetishism. It's about learning to balance the desires of the body with those of the heart.

Gammarino's writing is strong and evocative. Normally, I'm a serial reader. I finish one book and dive straight into another. I couldn't do that with Big in Japan. I had to take two days to emotionally process the story before I could bring myself to start a new book, that's how much it got to me. ( )

I find it very hard to figure out what I actually think about this novel. It's kind of a crazy amalgamation of different stuff. Mostly it's about the weird sexual awakening of the main character, Brain, in Japan. Brain is kind of unbelievably naive which takes something away from the story for me, but at least he's consistently so. On top of that main "journey" there are also some forays into Buddhism and Japanese culture, along with the jealousy story of Brain's feelings about the insane success of his old band. Then at the end everything goes completely batshit crazy in really weirdly unexpected ways. It's all a fairly interesting journey, but one that doesn't hold together all that well as far as having an overarching theme or message. A story doesn't necessarily have to have that sort of theme, but it might help make sense of some of the insanity in this case. ( )

I really tried to get into this book but the style of writing did not flow for me. I took a peek at the ending and could not see an ending just more confusion. I would not want to read anything else by this writer but know a friend who will love it so will send it to her to read. I was also unaware until a short way into the book that I was reading the Brian instead of Brain, it still did nothing for me.

While this was a powerful book to read, I found the pacing very jerky and a bit unsettling. Brain was a very interesting character, and I was pulled along to the finish despite the junior high-esque humor. I passed it along to a friend in my History of Manga class, and he absolutely loved it. ( )

Gammarino knows how to use the word 'whence' correctly. So nice.

While the destination was grand and there were certain glittering gems along the way, the journey was rough-going, as it was for Brain.

Prog-rock band Agenbite attempt to tour Japan, playing to crowds just as sparse and lackluster as those they faced in their hometown of Philadelphia. Lead guitarist Brain Tedesco, however, finds what he believes to be his soulmate in the form of a Japanese prostitute named Miho. He quickly quits Agenbite in order to remain in Japan and marry Miho, but that is only the beginning of his troubles.

As the novel progresses, Brain fumbles his way through a personal sexual awakening that is at times reminiscent of early Philip Roth, while the remaining members of Agenbite prove quite literally that the sky is not the limit. The novel alternates between humor and seriousness, though Gammarino often resorts to extreme scatological material that seems to have little purpose beyond shock value, and will certainly not have appeal to all readers.

Fans of Roth, and those who appreciate references to Ulysses and prog-rock, will possibly enjoy Big in Japan. Most will find the novel to be somewhat uneven, however, and may be disappointed in the novel’s hasty, unexpected ending.

This novel is not for the weak of heart. Man oh man, this novel is not for the weak of heart.

I mean, this is a powerful work. Brain Tedesco, the Philadelphia-born, psychology-trained, disturbed genius protagonist, drives the story (which I'll try to avoid spoiling, since its unveiling is one of Big in Japan's chief pleasures), and his evolution is constant enough to be continually entertaining while remaining credible. The supporting characters are generally described just enough to seem like real people--save for Miho, whose undercharacterization you could argue was intentional--and there are some really choice lines and dialogue. Gammarino is a real stickler for detail, too, both about the things that are central to the work (e.g. Japan) and the things that aren't (linguistics, the private space industry). As someone who, oddly enough, has a vested interest in all three, I really appreciated the effort.

Still, though, after finishing this I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. The over-the-top passages--which you'll know when you come to them, trust me--certainly befit the main character, but they still left me somewhere between frustrated and disgusted. There are a few cutesy sections, like the ghost references (a bit too disjointed, to me, to be thematic) and a "big in Japan" pun that you see coming for half the book. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there's the ending, which I just plain didn't like.

Just because I don't like an ending, though, doesn't mean it can't be a good ending. If you're looking for a coming-of-age tale that's modernist without being inherently pretentious, and you have the ability to take a lot of crap, you should certainly consider giving Big in Japan a try. ( )