How To Be An American Housewife

     I finished "How To Be an American Housewife" about five days ago. It was an easy read, but I found it really enjoyable. I've always been facinated by Japanese culture and have been fortunate enough to have a father-in-law that served his mission there, as well as several years of working experience.

     I didn't really connect with the mother daughter thing because me and my mom have a great relationship and I've never felt like she was nagging me. I had a much harder relationship with my father, so I had to try to imagine it from that angle. I thought it was interesting how the conflicts seemed to be rooted in the different ways that each character was raised. I suppose that each generation has differences in how it was raised, but the characters also had to cope with different cultures as well.

     There where things that I didn't know about Japan that where interesting to find out. Like the class system. That was new to me, but it made me think of our 'unofficial' class system in the states. It would be like a wealthy middle class child marrying a dirt poor hillbilly, at least thats how I looked at it. I also wonder if it is still considered great luck to marry an American service man in other countries.

     I really liked the father, but I found some incontistancies when it came to how they described him being Mormon. For instance, when they first meet, he is buying a pack of cigarettes in a hotel gift shop. I don't know about you, but I don't know any 'good' Mormon that smokes. Also, there was a reference to purgatory in connection with Mormon beliefs, except that Mormons don't believe in purgatory. I wonder how much research the author actually did on the Mormon religion. Other than that, he seemed like a pretty normal American guy.

     The brother kind of bothered me, just because I have a few brothers that act that way. They where spoiled from birth, and now they expect to be taken care of despite being adults. I saw in the brother alot of the character flaws that drive me crazy about my own brothers. He just seemed really distant to the rest of the family.

     The person that I connected most with was 'Sue'. I have always felt like an odd duck in my family, and when I went to Seattle I felt like I was home, even though I had never been there. Obviously Japan is a little bit different, but I could still connect with that feeling of belonging. I also know how it feels to work your butt off day in and day out, and feel like your going nowhere. Like your stuck, and just need to be satisfied with a mediocure life. I hope that one day I can get the courage to change my life and do what I want to do.

     Overall, this book was as much about finding one's own way as a story about mother and daughter. I connected much more with 'Sue's' story, but found that her mother's story was just as interesting and as important to the story. I found this book easy to read and enjoyable, so I would definately pick it up.

The Book Hoarder