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Rating: 
Summary: Max Danger is someone all gaijin can relate to! *laugh*
Review: Any gaijin who has lived in Japan for any length of time will absolutely adore the escapades and situations that Max Danger and his beautiful wife, Gloria, continually find themselves in. Even if you haven't personally experienced "company trouble," a golf outing in pouring rain and lightning or any of his other hilarious stories, chances are, you know someone who has. I was a gaijin for 10 years (hey, who am I kidding? I'll *always* be a gaijin!), and, for me, Max Danger, expat extrordinaire, captures all the quirks and nuances of being a foreigner in Japan in a wonderfully funny, true-to-life fashion. Just thinking about it is enough to make me smile and look forward to my next trip back home to Tokyo!
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Summary: Still funny after all these years
Review: I first read this book in the late 1980s and just re-read it again last week and I still find it an accurate protrayal of life for the American in Japan. My parents lived there, I lived there briefly as a child, ny aunt and uncle lived there for 35 years, and I've had many friends live and work there and it's all true! If you have any familiarity with the perceived quirks of Japanese culture you will enjoy this book; just don't view it as a guide to living there because it's not meant that way.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring! Boring! Boring!
Review: I moved to Japan for a few years back in 1991. Within the first few weeks of my trip, no less than five people told me I needed to read this book (but not until I'd lived there a few months). I did, and I loved every chapter. It's funny to the average reader, but it really resonates with anyone who's been there. To them, it's HYSTERICAL. The only other books I remember laughing out loud to were The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Catch 22. In a sense, this book is like Scott Turow's book One L -- in that it's a must-read for those embarking on the adventure. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Boring! Boring! Boring!
Review: This book is boring. It gives none of the flavor of a "gaijin" in Japan, and is very firmly set in the 80's-- with all of the economic contexts & American animosities that it implies--which none of the reviews indicate. In what I suppose is a tongue in cheek effort, the humor just falls flat. There are so many more wonderful & entertaining books about Japan. Just say no to Max Danger.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: While some of the humor of Max Danger is showing its age, it still remains one of the most entertaining and educational books about the culture clash that faces a foreigner living in Tokyo.Max Danger's hilarious mis-adventures give readers a picture of Japan as it is today, rather than a romanticized portrait of a land that no longer exists. This book is a must for any westerner living in Japan, or planning to do so.
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