\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026#8220;From Susie Wong to Madame Butterfly to Miss Saigon: you might think that we've had enough of American men adventuring, scoring, and coming undone in the Far East. But you'd be wrong. Gammarino's \u003ci\u003eBig in Japan\u003c/i\u003e is a shrewd and lively book, sharp-eyed and unsparing in its account of a young American's good and very bad moments overseas. The writing is wired and the ultimate judgement is merciless. It's seductive and it's devastating.\u0026#8221; \u0026#8212;PF Kluge, author of \u003ci\u003eEddie and the Cruisers\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGone Tomorrow\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile playing to lackluster crowds in their hometown of Philadelphia, progressive rock band Agenbite clings to the comforting half-truth that they're doing better in Japan. When their manager agrees to send them over on a shoestring tour, though, they're swiftly forced to give up their illusions and return stateside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll but one of them, that is.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrain Tedesco, the band's obsessive-compulsive nerve center, has fallen in love with a part-time sex worker - the first woman ever to have touched him - and his illusions have only just begun. What ensues is a gritty coming-of-age tale in which Brain, intent on achieving some kind of transcendence, paradoxically (or not so paradoxically) descends into the Hungry Ghost realm of Tokyo\u0026#8217;s underworld. He becomes, in effect, a \u003ci\u003egaki\u003c/i\u003e - the insatiable creature of Buddhist cosmology - and must learn how to live even as his outsize desires threaten to engulf him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy turns compassionate and ruthless, erotic and grotesque, riotously serious and deadly funny, \u003ci\u003eBig in Japan\u003c/i\u003e is a sparking, gut-wrenching, face-melting debut novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/div\u003e
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