"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."*

My recent adventure into the literary land of books has taken me though the pages of Jake Adelstein's Tokyo Vice. I first discovered Jake Adelstein via his contribution to to the Yakuza 3 reveiw, reveiwed by three Yakuza, on BoingBoing. When I was in a REAL LIFE book shop (not a common occurrence for me) and saw a book by the same guy I had to buy it.

Tokyo Vice is about Adelstein's life working as a reporter for the Yomuri Shinbun (a Japanese news paper) reporting on the disturbing underworld of Japanese organised crime. Adelstein's detailed accounts and great pacing make for a gripping and fascinating read. Adelstein has certainly lead a fascinating life, at times reading the book I almost forgot it wasn't a work of fiction. If you like crime, or reporters, or Japanese culture (and don't mind reading about the seedier side, no cute cartoons or origami here) then I definitely recommend you check this book out.

*The quote in the title of this post is from the book and refers to being good at things, not "good" in a morality sense.