"Yoshimoto hits some of the same notes that a previous generation's
literary masters (say, Kawabata or Tanizaki) might sound, and yet the
effect seems artless, spontaneous and wonderfully fresh." --Los Angeles
Times Book Review
Banana Yoshimoto's warm, witty, and heartfelt depictions of the lives of
young Japanese have earned her international acclaim and best-seller
status, as well as a place among the best of contemporary Japanese
literature. In N.P., a celebrated Japanese writer has committed
suicide, leaving behind a collection of stories written in English,
entitled N.P. But the book may never be published in his native Japan:
each translator who takes up the ninety-eighth story chooses death
too--including Kazami's boyfriend, Shoji. Haunted by Shoji's death,
Kazami discovers the truth behind the ninety-eighth story--and comes to
believe that "everything that had happened was shockingly beautiful,
enough to make you crazy." Banana Yoshimoto's language sweeps the reader
immediately into the streets of Tokyo, with her uncanny ability to merge
the echoes of Japanese traditional literature with a contemporary plot.
N.P. is essential reading, a stunningly simple tale of youthful
desires and obsessions.
