By Adam Brownstein in Tokyo Book of the Week: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis. Living in Japan, I have often marveled (sometimes cringed) at the intensity of East Asian rivalries. For about eight centuries, the strum and drang of relations between China and Japan, Japan and Korea, ChinaContinue reading “What I read this week December 10, 2023”
Category Archives: Stories
What I read this week Nov 22, 2022
By Adam Brownstein Book of the Week: Imagine a City: A pilot’s journey across the urban world by Mark Vanhoenacker In the balmy summer of 1982 my parents plocked my little brother and me on to a TWA 747, and led us I on whirlwind tour. We hit London (Paddington Bear, yes, please! Early greyContinue reading “What I read this week Nov 22, 2022”
What I read this week – Nov 8, 2022
By Adam Brownstein in Tokyo, Japan Book of the Week: The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing by Merve Emre On a misty Big Sur morning in 1995 I sat with 50 other GMs @ Noah’s New York Bagels in a tranquil lodge overlooking the sea. We wereContinue reading “What I read this week – Nov 8, 2022”
In a pickle
By Adam Brownstein Unrecognizable. Dysfunctional. WTF! These descriptors popped up again and again in the parlance of my expat friends who had visited America of late. Most of my good buddies tend to have strong opinions about material and trite topics alike, so I ingested their kvetching with a few grains of salt. Being bothContinue reading “In a pickle”
Down the Shore
By Adam Brownstein “How’re we doing, Frank? Getting close???” “Nearly there, Mrs. B. Just need to fenaggle a bit down below. You’re almost there.” “OK. Not sure how much longer we can hold on.” The exchange between my mother and Frank, the Doorman of 2727 Palisade Avenue, occurred during a sweltering August morning in 1975. Continue reading “Down the Shore”
Something I Learned: The “Search” for Meaning
July 19, 2022 — By Adam Brownstein Here in the epically gorgeous Wasatch Mountains (my high and dry hideaway from the sultry dog days of Tokyo Summer), I have a very bad habit. Most afternoons between Zoom marathons, I like to take 20 minutes to hike, clear my mind and breath in the last vestigeContinue reading “Something I Learned: The “Search” for Meaning”
Homecoming
June 1, 2022 — By Adam Brownstein The first real time I spent outside the United States was the Spring and Summer of 1992. Whitney Houston’s crooning ear worm “I Will Always Love You” (oooo-ooo-ooo) was #1. A blueblood President from Texas (by way of Kennebunkport) toasted the end of the Cold War (also knownContinue reading “Homecoming”
What’s Nu – Tokyo April 2022
With the last of the cherry blossoms clinging to branches we usher in the warm caress of Spring in Tokyo. Here’s a curation of what I’m reading, watching, listening to and experiencing. On the Nightstand – Books Go Back to Where You Came From And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American by WajahatContinue reading “What’s Nu – Tokyo April 2022”
Downhill
“I’ve made a huge mistake” G.O.B. Bluth’s catch phrase, swirled through my head as I gasped for air and stared at my nemesis. The subject of my panic was beyond the pale of human treachery. It was a field of “competition approved” moguls on Kagura Mountain in the heart of the Japan Alps. At theContinue reading “Downhill”
In the Queue
By Adam Brownstein Every year the first part of December ushers in beloved traditions in our family. There is the task of cleaning latke-detonated oil patches on the caesar-stone counter. With it, the sobering endeavor of excavating wax from our armada of menorahs. Every season, we commit ourselves to memorizing Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Sony”, althoughContinue reading “In the Queue”
The Tokyo Yenta 