Book Review: Audrey Hepburn’s Neck

Title: Audrey Hepburn’s Neck
Author: Alan Brown
Rating: 4/5





This book was a re-read for me. I picked it up several years ago at a library cast-off sale, and when I read it then I liked it. So I was interested to see if I had the same reaction now. The book begins on an annoying point – we read about Toshi and his fascination with American women, and I wondered if it was really just some poorly-disguised soft core porn. But, we soon come to realize that the life Toshi has been indulging in leaves him with dangerous ex-one-night-stands, as he realizes it. By the end of the book, when we find out the secret that Toshi’s mother has been harbouring for years, everything comes together, and the main character is just barely likable.
That being said, this book is worth the read more  than not. If you’ve been to Japan, the descriptions match well. I also think Brown did a great job of describing the conversation troubles of someone learning English in their mid-20s. I give this book 4/5, because it irritated me from the start but redeemed itself towards the end.