Standard Deviations : Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia

by Karl Taro Greenfeld

Release Date: 02 July, 2002

Edition: Hardcover

Price:

More Info

Need Tribes?

There is little doubt that Greenfeld is a talented journalist and writer, good at spinning engaging phrases and balancing details with commentary. But he's best when he's not writing about his own life, and unfortunately this book is a little too encrusted with self-referential blathering to make it as worthwhile as his much better work "Speed Tribes." Reading "Standard Deviations" felt a bit like gorging on sickly-sweet chocolate cake: there is as always a pleasantness and ease to immersing yourself in Greenfeld's writing, but the end result here is a bloated, nasty feeling.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Greenfeld, and the Asian expat scene, and indeed myself as a reader are all a bit older and a little more played out now. The sheen is off the gold lame, as it were. Greenfeld, to his credit, recognizes this and even as he struggles to come to grips with the nasty hangover that inevitably follows a youth of excess, his saving grace is that at times he is able to poke fun at his former aspirations and illusions. To some extent. But at other times, he comes across as a still bit too enraptured with his role as a minor-league Brett Eston Ellis of the Far East.

I guess that cocktail bars, hustlers and [women], Roppongi and Patpong, place-and-people name dropping and designer clothes all to be where it's at when you're in your early 20s. Then there comes a time when examining the shallowness and idiocy of it all also seems to be a worthwhile effort. Then finally the whole topic seems stale and boring. Greenfeld seems stuck uncomfortably between the latter two categories here, jammed crosswise into his 30s. Rather than having come to any conclusions or wisdom looking back on a life of dissipation now firmly in the past, he comes across as somebody who has sorta kinda stopped partying, maybe. Or at least for now or something.

I guess if you are a fan of his and an avid reader, you could do worse than pick up this book. But there isn't much in here his target audience doesn't already know and hasn't already experienced for itself. I'm hoping that his next book will take us back to the objectivity and groundbreaking novelty of "Speed Tribes."

Couldn't put it down

Greenfeld is an accomplished writer with a terrific sense of humor. The book chronicles his career and travels as a disgruntled english teacher in Japan and a freelance journalist trotting around the Far East and India. Along the way he delivers poignant tales featuring shady characters and fellow expats who engage in Asia's riches, while inking his growing dependence on mind altering substances. Greenfeld now serves as Time magazine's Asian news editor. If you're interested in journalism, enjoy travel writing, and can appreciate an American sense of wit, you must pick up this book.