You Gotta Have Wa

Zusatztext “The definitive book on Japanese baseball and one of the best-written sports books ever.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Run! or at least jog! to the nearest bookstore and buy You Gotta Have Wa .” — New York Times Book Review “Far more than a sports book.” —David Halberstam “Bob Whiting has done it again! . . . A book that will please baseball fans and enlighten anyone interested in Japanese-American relations.” —James Fallows! Atlantic Monthly Informationen zum Autor Robert Whiting is the author of You Gotta Have Wa and is one of the very few Westerners to write a regular column in the Japanese press. He has appeared as a commentator in documentaries about Japan and on such shows as Larry King Live and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour . He has also written for The New York Times , Sports Illustrated , Smithsonian , Newsweek , U.S. News and World Report , and Time , among other publications. He lives in Tokyo. Klappentext A hilarious, informative, and riveting account of Japanese baseball and the cultural clashes that ensued when Americans began playing there professionally. In Japan, baseball is a way of life. It is a philosophy. It is besuboru. Its most important element is wa—group harmony—embodied in the proverb "The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down." In this witty and incisive book, Robert Whiting gives us a close-up look at besuboru's teams, obsessive ritualism, and history, as seen through the eyes of American players who found the Japanese approach—rigorous pregame practices, the tolerance for tie games, injured pitchers encouraged to "pitch through the pain”—completely baffling. With vivid accounts of East meeting West, involving Babe Ruth, Ichiro Suzuki, Bobby Valentine, Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh, and many others, this lively and completely unique book is an utter gem and baseball classic. 1 The Visitation I don't know whether the Japanese system is good or not. I just don't understand it. —Bob Horner He walked off the plane at Narita Airport, wearied by his long flight, blinking in confusion at the waiting crush of cameras, lights, and microphones. Reporters on the scene that warm April afternoon remarked that no foreign visitor to Japan had ever received such a tremendous welcome—not Ronald Reagan, not Princess Diana, not even Michael Jackson. The visitor was not a head of state or a movie star. He was only an American baseball player. Nevertheless, to many Japanese, his appearance in their country was an event of national proportions and historical significance. Japan was at the height of its economic muscle. Japanese interests owned 54 percent of all the cash in the world's banks, 65 percent of all Manhattan real estate, and 3 per cent of the entire U.S. national debt. A staid Japanese insurance company had paid 39 million dollars for Van Gogh's painting Sunflower. And now, in what one TV commentator had called the pièce de résistance, a Japanese baseball team had outbid the American major leagues for a prime American player: James Robert Horner. Bsubru was unquestionably the country's national sport. It was the most talked about subject amongst Japanese after the weather, the yen-dollar rate, and sex. And while imported sluggers were by no means new to Japan—name players like Frank Howard, Dick Stuart, and Reggie Smith had all emigrated to the Land of the Rising Sun after their own suns set in the West—no one in Horner's class had ever deigned to come over. Horner had hit 215 home runs in nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves. A player of All-Star proportions, at twenty-nine, he was at his peak. After decades of benchwarmers and faded stars, here, finally, was an American product worth paying for. Horner had snob appeal among people who were notorious...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Robert Whiting
• Editore: Vintage USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 24.03.2009
• EAN: 9780307455970
• ISBN: 978-0-307-45597-0
• Pagine: 416
• Dimensioni: 130 mm x 205 mm x 21 mm
• Serie: Vintage Departures; Vintage Departures
• Categoria: Scienze sociali, diritto, economia > Economia