When Jane Takagi-Little finally lands a job-producing a Japanese television show sponsored by BEEF-EX, an organization promoting the export of U.S. meats-she takes her crew on the road in search of all-American wives cooking all-American meat. Over the course of filming, though, Jane makes a few troubling discoveries about both. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, in Japan, Akiko Ueno watches My American Wife! and diligently prepares Coca-Cola Roast and Panfried Prairie Oysters for her husband, John, (the ad-agency rep for the show's sponsor). As Akiko fills out his questionnaires, rating each show on Authenticity, Wholesomeness, and Deliciousness of Meat, certain ominous questions about her own life-and the fact that after each meal she has to go to the bathroom and throw up-begin to surface. A tale of love, global media, and the extraordinary events in the lives of two ordinary women, counterpointed by Sei Shonagon's vibrant commentary, this first novel by filmmaker Ruth L. Ozeki-as insightful and moving as the novels of Amy Tan, as original as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. or John Irving-is a sparkling and original debut from a major new talent.