please let this be a trend

Anne over at the Vertical Publishing blog launches a fantastic new feature:

as some of you have already heard, i am launching the Finger in the Throat Book Report (hereon referred to as FITT) today. as the name implies, i will digest nauseatingly bad books and throw them back up for your amusement, in bi-weekly fashion. i have a huge selection of bad books in general, but i’ve decided that in keeping with the Vertical m.o. i’d stick to bad books about Japan and Asia at large. most of them have been written by white men, and i can safely say there is no dirth of supply or demand. according to one scholarly work, James Clavell’s Shogun has been arguably the most important inspiration for our current generation of westerners (i.e. white men) to study Japan.

now, don’t get me started on the bad books about East Asia written by japanese, asian or french (doube-finger in the throat) writers. they are aplenty, i know. but my reason for focusing on white men, and mostly American at that, is simple: sex. the one common thread in all these bad books is the unparalleled fascination with Asian sexuality, and in more than a few books, this fascinating sexuality is compared to the fault of Western sexuality.

The first book considered is DAISHI-SAN by Robert Lund (1961). I assure you this review is not to be missed. Click the link above or you will go forward through the remainder of your days not even knowing what suddenly seemed to be missing inside you that one Sunday in June. (And Mr. Barzak, you will certainly not want to miss. You are homesick, we are homesick for you.)

(Thanks to Scott.)