When I began my higher [priced] education at Drew University, my Asian Studies professor and counselor, H. Leedom Lefferts, opened my eyes to a new way of understanding readings and the rewards that come from patient study of topics that may seem entirely uninteresting or otherwise unrelated to one's field of interest. Any Southeast Asian Studies, (Leedom's field of personal interest and expertise), student can certainly remember the first day in class when their instructor claimed that Southeast Asia, "all comes down to the importance of rice." Leedom taught me that the study of the "mundane", to use his word precisely, aspects of a 'culture' combined will help one create that 'culture' in their mind's eye more accurately than can be accomplished by focussing on merely one facet of the society. And so I began reading.
This section is here as a "review" section of sorts but I would hate to call it that. Rather these are my findings from readings I have done and or studied. The books I read range from obscure topics to classics such as Genji Monogatari or The Tale of Genji. I tend to gravitate towards non-fiction, however, romances like Genji and modern shockers that create a stir in Japan like Battle Royale are by no means beneath my radar.
As always, this page is a work-in-progress and of course anything you feel inclined to add to my commentary would be appreciated.