December 8, 2004

Western Conceptions and Coming to Age in Alan Brown's

Audrey Hepburn's Neck

Alan Brown's story is a comical yet emotional tale of a Japanese man obsessed with American women, after viewing his first Audrey Hepburn film at the age of nine. Jane, a flamboyant American English teacher, seduces Toshi, a twenty-three-year-old manga cartoonist living in Tokyo. As Toshi tries to carve a life for himself, he discovers the complexities associated with sexuality and American women, especially Jane. Throughout the book, Brown beautifully captures how atypical and baffling the Western style can be to someone from outside the culture. Not only does Toshi struggle in his relations with American women throughout the novel, but also with a troubled childhood and a family secret that is slowly exposed to the reader. Brown's witty lines and dry humor make the book entertaining while still supplying an accurate depiction...