No Pianos, Pets or Foreigners!
My Life in Japan in the 80's
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Narrated by:
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Joe Palermo
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By:
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Joe Palermo
About this listen
A young Japanese woman was running through Tokyo station screaming “Save me! Save me!” There was a Japanese man chasing her and closing in. He grabbed her wrist and caught her, about 10 feet in front of me. The woman was still yelling “Save me! Save me!”, but the Japanese people in the crowded station ignored her, not wanting to get involved.
This is the beginning of just one of the stories from my experience living in Japan in the 1980s, where I had moved right after graduating university. It was still rare to see an American who could speak Japanese fluently. This book guides the listener through my many adventures navigating through Japanese culture while living in the outskirts of Tokyo, as well as Tokyo proper.
©2020 Joseph M. Palermo (P)2020 Joseph M. PalermoListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Without bothering to get approval from the President, the State Department, or even the FTC, Dave Barry's publishers sent him to Tokyo. You'd think they would have known better. Now the word is Barry has set back our diplomatic relations with the whole Pacific Rim by a couple of decades. Japanese culture, dining, sport, and industry all come under Barry's relentless scrutiny.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Uplifting and fun
- By S. Blaine on 04-30-03
By: Dave Barry
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Funny in Farsi
- A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
- By: Firoozeh Dumas
- Narrated by: Firoozeh Dumas
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,669
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,669
In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father's glowing memories of his graduate school years here.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The melting pot, next generation
- By Jerry on 02-15-08
By: Firoozeh Dumas
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Schadenfreude, a Love Story
- Me, the Germans, and 20 Years of Attempted Transformations, Unfortunate Miscommunications, and Humiliating Situations That Only They Have Words For
- By: Rebecca Schuman
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
Schadenfreude is the story of a teenage Jewish intellectual who falls in love - in love with a boy (who breaks her heart), a language (that's nearly impossible to master), a culture (that's nihilistic but punctual), and a landscape (that's breathtaking when there's not a wall in the way). Rebecca is an everyday, misunderstood '90s teenager with a passion for Pearl Jam and Ethan Hawke circa Reality Bites until two men walk into her high school civics class: Dylan Gellner and Franz Kafka, hitching a ride in Dylan's backpack.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A humorous, delectable read
- By Amazon Customer on 07-13-17
By: Rebecca Schuman
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Death at the Chateau Bremont
- Verlaque and Bonnet Provençal Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: M.L. Longworth
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 138
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 121
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Story4 out of 5 stars 121
When local nobleman Étienne de Bremont falls to his death from the family château, it sets the historic town of Aix-en-Provence abuzz with rumors. The once-idyllic town suddenly seems filled with people who could have benefited from Bremont's death - including his playboy brother, François, who's heavily in debt and mixed up with some unsavory characters. But just as the list of suspects is being narrowed down, another death occurs. And this time, there can be no doubt - it's murder.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Narrator is awful
- By F. Miller on 05-06-23
By: M.L. Longworth
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They Call Me Supermensch
- A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock'n'Roll
- By: Shep Gordon
- Narrated by: Shep Gordon
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 531
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 480
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Story5 out of 5 stars 476
In the course of his legendary career as a manager, an agent, and a producer, Shep Gordon has worked with and befriended some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dali, Luther Vandross to Teddy Pendergrass. He is also credited with inventing the "celebrity chef" and has worked with Nobu Matsuhisa, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Roger Vergé, and many others.
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4 out of 5 stars
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It's like he's never seen the words before
- By Joe F. on 11-01-17
By: Shep Gordon
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Nickel and Dimed
- On (Not) Getting By in America
- By: Barbara Ehrenreich
- Narrated by: Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,575
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,002
This engrossing piece of undercover reportage has been a fixture on the New York Times best seller list since its publication. With nearly a million copies in print, Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good concept, but poor execution.
- By Marco Forcone on 08-24-04
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This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,704
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,523
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,506
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
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Parking the Moose
- One American's Epic Quest to Uncover His Incredible Canadian Roots
- By: Dave Hill
- Narrated by: Dave Hill
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
Dave Hill was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. But his grandfather was from Canada. Inspired by a publisher's payment of several hundred dollars (Canadian) in cash, Dave has traveled all over Canada, reconnecting with his heritage in such places as Montreal, Moose Jaw, Regina, Winnipeg, and Merrickville, meeting a range of Canadians, touching things he probably shouldn't, and having adventures too numerous and rich in detail to be done justice in this blurb. The result, he promises, is "the greatest Canada-based literary thrill ride of your lifetime".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Oh Canada!
- By Gerry on 11-26-19
By: Dave Hill
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If My Heart Had Wings
- A World War II Love Story
- By: Nadine Taylor
- Narrated by: Nadine Taylor
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
At the height of WW2, 22-year-old Nina Raff learns that her beloved pilot husband has been killed in plane crash. To escape her grief, she upends her life, moves across country, and plunges into another marriage far too soon. For the next 20 years, she buries her sadness and ignores the past to appease her jealous alcoholic second husband. But when her teenage daughter discovers a long-hidden wedding photo, an unforgettable story of love, heartbreaking loss, oppression, and family secrets tumbles out, compounded by a mystery the daughter is determined to solve.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully done!
- By Cdg on 07-10-20
By: Nadine Taylor
What listeners say about No Pianos, Pets or Foreigners!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TucsonBob
- 07-19-20
Fascinating look behind the fusuma in Japan!
Joe gives us front row seats to his personal, cultural, and corporate adventures in Japan during a time when it was very rare to be a non-Japanese person living in Japan. We experience his emotions and impressions during this transformative journey from West to East. He navigates uncharted waters (sometimes getting wet) like a true explorer. I laughed and I cried (a little) reading this book. My top question: Did you ever "drift" your modified Cervo Kei while in Tokyo?
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- C. H.
- 11-03-20
Not so much emphasis on the 80s
The reading was well done, which was a nice surprise since sometimes the author is not the best reader. I enjoyed several stories in the book and can relate to many of the experiences.
My criticisms are that the chapters are short and kind of feel like a collection of stories you tell friends at a party, and don't have much development. Also, other than a few references to lacking email, the novelty of car phones, and so on, the book didn't give me much of a feeling of what Japan was like in the 80s, which is one of the reasons I bought the book. Most everything in the book is still relatable today - how people interact with you in small towns, how you have to buy your own fixtures and appliances, etc., it's cool to see how some things haven't changed, but I'd also like to know more about what has.
Overall the stories are entertaining and I think there's some cultural value that is still applicable for people who want to spend time in Japan today.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Richard Bennett
- 05-21-21
mediocre
I ain't gonna front, the writing sounds like that of a 6th grader, but the anecdotes are interesting enough I suppose
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