'Wrong About Japan is challenging to review. This is partly a result of the high expectations raised by the appearance of a new Peter Carey book. Another reason is that in this ostensibly non-fictional monograph Carey departs from his customary literary genres, and in doing so takes a number of annoyingly gratuitous liberties with his subject matter and some lazy shortcuts. This leaves some of his loyal readers, including myself, feeling short-changed. ' (Introduction)