Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As someone who has lived in central Tokyo for almost eight years, I was hoping to find an interesting insider's tale of hostessing in Japan. Unfortunately, there was nothing particularly unique in this book that I couldn't have learned from anyone in a local bar. And by no means are her anecdotes decadent in a truly Tokyo way; the combo hostess/strip clubs in Roppongi are much wilder and much more self-destructive for the women working there, not to mention the s&m bars or the private naked/partner swap parties. Her wild nights were not nearly as wild as an ordinary night out in Roppongi for a drunken expat banker. She also has a poor geographical memory as she misplaces numerous bars that she frequented. Can't understand why she is perpetually broke if she's making such big money hostessing--including three dohans per week versus the quota of two per month--pays only about $500 per month in rent (roughly half the cost of one of her regular's nightly tabs) and never has to buy her own dinner or drinks as she is an expert in getting those for free, yet can't afford the cost of a moving van, which from personal experience runs about $300 for a one-day in-town move. Everything regarding her hostessing career seems greatly exaggerated, as if she were writing a memoir based on other people's stories. While I trust she was a hostess, her story nonetheless reads like a revisionist diary. The most interesting part was her relationship with little Ayu, a story line which was completely abandoned once her hostessing began. Lots of sloppy errors with dates and geography. While she has a moving story with regards to the August 2005 anniversary of the WWII A-bombing, her interpretation of the somber mood over all of Japan is simply wrong. On the contrary, Japanese news shows, as well as CNN, ran numerous interviews with Japanese citizens on the street who had no idea why August 6 and 9 were significant in Japanese history. Ultimately, the book is disappointing for old Tokyo hands as her attempt to prove her immersion into Japanese culture are revealed as exaggerated by numerous mistakes and failure to experience many of the more decadent floating world. Though obviously cathartic for the author, the book is rather sophomoric.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess
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