Standard Deviations

Publishers Weekly

In the Asian economic surge of the late 1980s, deputy editor of Time Asia Greenfeld leaves his New York home in search of "a big life," as he calls it, of sex, drugs and a sense of purpose. But a funny thing happens on the way to fulfillment for this Asian-American Gen-Xer: in a small city near Tokyo, he lands an English-teaching job he detests and numbs his dissatisfaction with narcotic cough syrup. On a retreat for English teachers, he awakens from a drug-induced nap in the hot baths feeling cleansed, and musters the charm to pick up an Australian woman. Romance ensues, and it seems that Asia may be good for our hero after all. Greenfeld, though, looks his gift horse in the mouth as well as every other orifice and his book rapidly becomes a down-and-outer's tour of the bleakest side of Asia, replete with transsexual Thai hookers, con-man Indian swamis and lots of heroin and temporary intimacies. Greenfeld (Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation), an excellent wordsmith, describes it all with cool precision: he's able to evoke a pristine beach, a dangerous rickshaw race or oral sex with a few direct sentences. But unlike Hunter S. Thompson or Henry Miller, he never seems to enjoy his transgressions. Ultimately, the book doesn't coalesce, despite Greenfeld's efforts to parallel his decline toward heroin addiction with the Asian economy's free fall. He offers unique glimpses into Asia and apparently frank self-revelation, but never fleshes out either theme. This title is to the reader what Asia was to Greenfeld: frequently entertaining, occasionally shocking, but a little short of substance. (On sale July 2) Forecast: This could be sold to a hip youth market; anyone over the age of 30 will find it rather self-indulgent. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The deputy editor of Time Asia and author of Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation, Greenfeld has written an unusual travel memoir that details his meanderings in the major cities of Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Nepal during the 1980s and 1990s. The reader is spared historical and cultural background and is instead invited to delight in adolescent descriptions of Greenfeld's sexual pursuits and self-exploration. Apparently, commentary or perceptions on the diverse Asian economic and political tapestry would have been too enlightening, so instead he is more inclined to extol the stupefying array of intoxicants, from alcohol to codeine-laced cough syrup, that he ingested to get high throughout his tour. This hedonistic, pseudo-bohemian journey could have been informative and instructive were it not so self-indulgent. An optional purchase. Lonnie Weatherby, McGill Univ Lib., Montreal Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The deputy editor of Time Asia takes an erratic tour from Tokyo to Kathmandu, following beautiful Westerners as they snort, smoke, and screw their way around various underworlds. Although Greenfeld (Speed Tribes, 1994) tells tales of Russian pimps, Chinese princesses, and Thai prostitutes along the way, he firmly remains the protagonist in all but one of a series of narratives loosely stitched together to follow his years spent in Asia. Starting out as an English teacher in his mother’s native Japan, Greenfeld quickly ditches that uncool profession (mid-semester) in favor of the more glamorous world of journalism. His initial enthusiasm for the traveler scene is expressed with much repetition of the F-word and a bizarre adoption of British slang (“lad,” “posh,” “fellow”). Perhaps, through self-deprecation—he describes his jealousy of others who are more successful, beautiful, and hip—he is trying to convey cynicism. It doesn’t work and is more irritating than effective. Greenfeld bolsters his claim to know fashion with an endless litany of characters described by the labels on their jeans and sunglasses. Girls are either hags with TOEFL tapes, or sexual conquests, in which case we are taken through their precise proportions and proficiency at oral sex. Occasionally, a bit of journalism finds its way in and we learn about riots in Jakarta or fads in the Thai sex trade. Only in the last few stories, the best of which is “The Circuit,” do we see our callow hero disillusioned. This doesn’t necessarily make the earlier chapters easier to read, but it’s gratifying to find him irritated with carbon copies of his younger self and a relief to see him finally, as promised, “coming down.” Anexhausting journey through one man’s ego as all the drugs and girls in Asia gradually wear him out.