My Year of Meats

     I read what (for me) was a new, genre-bending type of book this week—My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. The book’s main characters are both women, Jane and Akiko. Jane is a young Japanese-American filmmaker hired to produce a TV program for the American meat industry called My American Wife, a Japanese cooking show. The aim of the show is to sell American beef to Japanese homemakers. Akiko, a traditional subservient Japanese wife, is a viewer who, to please her abusive husband, follows the recipes and cooks the meats she sees on the show. Her husband is a Tokyo-based representative for the Texas beef industry and a big fan of beef.

     I loved both characters, but Akiko was the one who stayed with me after I finished reading My Year of Meats. I think she is a victim of sexual discrimination. As different as she can be from Jane, Akiko is subservient and timid, and her husband berates her and yells at her; at other times, he ignores her and sometimes hits her. But Akiko accepts this abuse as normal married life. As she dutifully watches the show and cooks the meats for her husband, Akiko’s life begins to change. It is her first introduction to another culture and another way of life for women. Akiko begins to envy the lifestyle of American women and begins to question her own lifestyle. She eventually leaves her brutish husband and changes the course of her life. I liked this character and how she took charge of her own life and destiny, and changed her mind about the traditional role of the Japanese housewife.

     While the story is told with humor and with warmth, there are serious arguments about race, class, gender, and even the economic and social ethics of eating meat. The first director of My American Wife wants to cast only Caucasian women who cook only beef. Think All-American. He isn’t interested in America as a multicultural nation, and multicultural dishes aren’t on the menu either. They’re looking to sell America in general and American beef in particular. When the show eventually includes some multicultural dishes and even a lesbian couple, the viewer reaction is hot, and ratings climb. I think the charm of America is its multiculturalism, and I’m not alone in this view.

     My Year of Meats is a fictional novel, but it has a realistic tone and important themes that should not be ignored. I would highly recommend this book to others, men and women, Americans and Japanese, and anyone who cares about race, cultural differences, class, gender, and the ethical treatment of animals.