It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.
It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.
Mystery Writers of America’s story collection When a Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta was just released (April 21, 2021)! Thanks to Hanover Square Press and Tina deBellegarde for giving BOA permission to run the following story from the anthology. It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two More…
Twenty-four stories in a collection of climate fiction that seek to imagine what cities might look like in a future of multi-species co-existence and green justice.
Review by Leanne Ogasawara Set primarily in the Asia-Pacific, the twenty-four stories of this new collection of climate fiction seek to imagine what cities might look like in a future of multi-species co-existence and green justice. Firmly planted in the new genre of solarpunk, the stories are filled with a polyphony of voices—some non-human and More…
Opens as a coming-of-age story, evolves into psychological suspense, and settles into dark fantasy and horror.
Grove Press (October 8, 2020) Review by Tina deBellegarde Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (transl. Ginny Tapley Takemori) is a unique literary experience, one that is impossible to pigeonhole into any specific genre. It opens as a coming-of-age story, evolves into psychological suspense, and settles into dark fantasy and horror. As she did in Convenience Store More…
Kazuo’s trademark estrangement paradoxically brings his characters closer to us.
A Tale of Two Ishiguros Review by Cody Poulton Once upon a time there were two men who shared the same surname and an interest in robots. One of them, Kazuo, left Japan and became a little Englishman, but he always felt like an outsider, which is a good thing for a writer, which is More…
Nick Bradley masterfully weaves together seemingly disparate threads to conjure up a vivid tapestry of Tokyo; its glory, its shame, its characters, and a calico cat. -—David Peace
Interview by Susan Karen Burton I first encountered Nick Bradley in the University of East Anglia campus pub in 2015. We were both studying creative writing and a lecturer had suggested we meet because our area of interest—Japan—was, he stated, somewhat specialized. It was felt that we could use each other’s support. He was right. More…
A promising debut novel by Ana Johns
A promising debut book by Ana Johns
The novel that catapulted Murakami to superstardom in 1987.
Sorry, you missed this deal! This is an e-book only deal on iBooks and Amazon and will last only 24hrs, so grab it now by clicking the green “More info” button on the left. Norwegian Wood ノルウェイの森 (Noruwei no Mori) First published in Japanese in 1987. Translated into English by Alfred Brinbaum in 1989, then More…
(Feature photo: “The Red Room” by Lucy Pulvers) Peaceful Circumstances is the story of Karen, a twenty-one-year-old white woman from Los Angeles. Sitting beside the hospital bed of her father, who is in a coma, she is convinced that he can hear her; so, over a single night, she tells him what happened to her More…
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder) (Pantheon, Random House August 13, 2019) Reviewed by Renae Lucas-Hall This internationally-acclaimed writer transports you to a disturbing dystopian island where everyone and everything gradually disappears, leaving its vulnerable inhabitants at the mercy of a terrifying totalitarian regime. Imagine, if you will, waking up knowing More…
Your guide to finding quality books
on Japan and Asia
