Book Reviews Photo by Daniel on Unsplash Readers will naturally and, perhaps, unfortunately, wish to make connections between Sayaka Murata’s (b. 1979) newest novel, Earthlings, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori (Grove Press, 2021), and her wonderfully quirky Convenience Store Woman (which I previously reviewed for WLT). To be sure, the two novels share a focus on people who live at the margins of a stereotypically conformist Japanese society. Indeed, Natsuki, the protagonist of Earthlings, is waging a long-term battle against “The Factory,” her term for the myriad social expectations and constraints that serve to channel “Earthlings” into the dual roles of productive economic cogs and breeding receptacles for future cogs. She resolutely adopts a lifestyle that rejects such a regimented life and, in so doing, ensures that she will be the locus for society’s ire. That, however, is where the similarities end, and this is why it is well to resist the easy comparison to Murata’s earlier novel. Earthlings is a much darker work, building upon themes that privilege violations of taboos, some quite traumatic, to weave a tale that, in its conclusion, is about as different from Convenience Store Woman in tone as one might imagine. Here, Murata interrogates the transgressive potential of difference, yet we do not sense, in that exploration, the expected condemnations. Rather, we are asked to consider the forces that impinge on... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-04-19 20:44:40 UTC ]
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Fall religion, in not so many words: still too many pastors; religion is still bad for you and the world (Christopher Hitchens has even come back from the dead, via previously unpublished essays, to remind us of this); Pope Francis still looks promising. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Children's Screen Entertainment has sold its first book-to-screen transfer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When I interviewed entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki recently, I chatted with him at great lengths about his Twitter publishing habits. Take a look at his feed, and every few minutes you'll see a new post, from why videos go viral to Playboy's plans for a strip club. With so much tweeting, I... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Piccadilly Press has acquired a new title in the Alien Schoolboy series by author Ros Asquith.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 21/03/2011 - 15:15 Simon & Schuster has signed a new picture book deal with the creative duo behind the Aliens Love Underpants series. Emma Blackburn, picture book editorial director at S&S, bought world rights to Monstersaurus from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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