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Rating: 
Summary: Not very good as anthropology, or a description of Japan
Review: I read this book during research for an anthropology paper on women's labor in Japan, and was very un-impressed for the following reasons:1)The description of the role of hostess clubs is not particularly accurate. Having been dragged to hostess clubs by Japanese (and American) colleagues, I know that Allison's attempt to generalize based on her experiences is deceptive. (I am not defending the hostess club- I did not think much of the establishments I attended.) 2) Allison remarkably seems to pretend in her writing that the fact that she was a western anthropology student in a previously all-Japanese club (before Westerners became common in hostess bars) did not affect the club, or the validity of her observations. 3) Much of the theorizing in the book is downright demeaning to the Japanese, suggesting that they engage only in play to simulate work, or that many marriages are simply a wife replacing the mother. I don't think this book has aged well, and I think there are much better starting points for learning about Japan, Japanese sexuality, or the sex industry in Japan.
Rating:
Summary: Not particularly good anthropology, and dated as well
Review: I used this book in preparing for an anthropology paper on women's roles in Japan, and regretted the choice. (As a quick note, I have been dragged to several hostess clubs while employed at a Japanese company.) The anthropology itself is pretty sloppy- the author seems oblivious to the fact that, as a westerner (before westerners became common in hostess clubs), her interactions will be extremely different from what normally happens in such clubs. The book is long on theory, but short on observation. I can not recommend it as anthropology, or as an accurate observation on Japanese sexuality.
Rating: 
Summary: The hostess club as a microcosm of Japanese society
Review: Nightwork, by Anne Allison, provides us with a fascinating firsthand glimpse into the world of the Japanese hostess club, showing us exactly what sort of work the hostesses engage in, and the typical behavior of most of the clients who frequent such clubs. Because Allison only spent four months working in one hostess club (and a fairly atypical one, at that), her experiences and observations are unfortunately limited, but within these limitations she does manage to use the microcosm of the hostess club to give us a broader perspective of Japanese society in general: the clearly defined dichotomy of male/female roles in a marriage, the subtle conflation of "work" and "play" in a salaryman's life, and how Japanese corporate philosophy encourages and perpetuates the separation of the salaryman from his family. By necessity, the focus was on the lifestyles of middle to upper-middle class white-collar salaried men, the sort of people most likely to frequent the type of hostess club where Allison worked. But I would still recommend this book to anyone who is interested in all aspects of Japanese society, and especially to those who are interested in the part mizu shobai (the nightlife of urban Japan) plays in it. I give the book less than five stars because parts of Nightwork were slowed down by pages of jargon which made for rather heavy reading for a general reader like myself.
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