Toby D. (bookswapper) reviewed The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life on + 188 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Hard to describe how weird this book is. I started the first chapter and it just got stranger and stranger, to the point that you can't believe the author wrote some of the personal details about his sex life, cheating on dates/girlfriends, distractions from work, and personal problems with his parents. There is a fascinating thread through the book on Japanese customs and how Andy keeps discovering that he has broken another rule or social norm, such as dressing inappropriately for a meeting, and many other problems (I don't want to give them away here for you folks that haven't read the book yet!). Found the parts on eating Sushi and Japan during WWII the best. Hope this guy gets better and that some of the stuff in the book was exaggerated...
Sophia C. reviewed The Ramen King and I: How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life on + 289 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The strangest part of The Ramen King and I is not any of the bizarre plot points—and there are plenty to choose from—but the fact that it is a memoir.
Andy Raskin is a American thirty-something fluent in Japanese whose chronic infidelity has caught up with him. Due to a number of strange coincidences, Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles and founder of Nissin Foods, becomes the unlikely motivating force for his 12-step-esque recovery. Along the way, the reader is treated to amusing observations about Japanese food and culture. Even Haruki Murakami makes a cameo appearance, and some situations Andy finds himself in could have been from a Murakami novel. Although Raskin might have been a sex addict with a slight Asian fetish, he redeems himself through his funny, honest, self-depreciating style and actual effort to change. I might never be able to look at another Cup Noodle the same way again: did you know there's a Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka?
Andy Raskin is a American thirty-something fluent in Japanese whose chronic infidelity has caught up with him. Due to a number of strange coincidences, Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles and founder of Nissin Foods, becomes the unlikely motivating force for his 12-step-esque recovery. Along the way, the reader is treated to amusing observations about Japanese food and culture. Even Haruki Murakami makes a cameo appearance, and some situations Andy finds himself in could have been from a Murakami novel. Although Raskin might have been a sex addict with a slight Asian fetish, he redeems himself through his funny, honest, self-depreciating style and actual effort to change. I might never be able to look at another Cup Noodle the same way again: did you know there's a Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka?
