A collection of nonfiction short stories about the decadence and disaffection of urban Japanese Gen X youth during the early 1990s in the last years of the Bubble Economy, Speed Tribes was widely reviewed in international media.

Its subjects include a young Yakuza member, a nightclub hostess, an office girl, a motorcycle gangster, a hacker, an ultra-right-wing nationalist, and 'Choco Bon-Bon', a porn star.

[3][4] Writing for The New York Times, Alan Poul reviewed the book unfavorably, focusing on its "tough guy" language, inconsistent narrative choices, inaccurate descriptions, and an approach to reporting Japanese culture that reduced the stories to "simple, cynical morality plays".

[5] Dennis Romero of the Los Angeles Times criticized Speed Tribes for its "bad writing, shaky structure and strange characters," but favorably noted that "Greenfeld turns over the cold, hard stone of Japanese culture and finds life beneath.

"[6] Kirkus Reviews called Speed Tribes a "tense and spicy read," but concluded that it was "dragged down by heavy-handed writing.