Some may recall the old joke about the henpecked husband. When asked, "Who makes the decisions in your house?" his reply was, "I decide the big issues and my wife decides the small ones. I decide what to do about the national debt, rising crime, and world peace, while she decides where we'll live, who we associate with, and how we spend our money."

For many young readers, the fanfare greeting the publication of The Amber Spyglass in October rivaled that for Harry Potter IV. Publishers delayed this concluding volume in the fantasy trilogy known as His Dark Materials (Knopf) for 16 months, leading at least one desperate fan to send author Philip Pullman a photograph of a furry squirrel, with ultimatum attached: "Finish your book or the squirrel dies."

"They do a lot of things better than we do." My 21-year-old son made this statement with confidence, having lived in Japan for nine months. After only a few days into my visit with him I could agree: Among the many things the Japanese do better are public transportation, space management, and product packaging. And they are much better than the United States at managing their society.

The crime rate is among the lowest in the world; my daughter and I were assured that we could go anywhere in Tokyo, at night, with no fear of harm.