Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a voracious reader, but struggled to get through this one. A good chunk of the first part of the book is the existentialist musings of the primary character-- which is OK if you read Foucault for fun, but I don't and probably most other people won't enjoy that either. The book drags on while nothing much happens, until the mysterious Japanese resident moves in about halfway through the book. He serves the same role as the Magical Black Man (google this concept if you haven't heard of it) does in other books/movies, appearing out of nowhere to save the main characters from their humdrum lives ("Saved By Sushi"). Like other reviewers, I was irritated by the main characters feeling superior to everyone else. I was also annoyed by the blatant fetishizing of anything Japanese as exotic and culturally superior. I mean, gyoza is good and all, but it's like, pub food. The book gains some momentum 3/4ths of the way through as the three main characters become friends. But then the book ends the way you ended your stories in third grade when you couldn't figure out how to end them.