Books Mar 13, 2023

Osamu Dazai gets silly while facing fears in 'The Flowers of Buffoonery'

Translator Sam Bett brings out the fragile personalities in the author's early novella, a predecessor to his modern classic novel “No Longer Human."

Books Jan 13, 2023

Pico Iyer's search for peace in a world of uncertainty

The author reflects on his extensive travels over the past 48 years while examining conceptions of paradise in his new collection of essays, "The Half Known Life."

Books Jun 13, 2021

‘The Party and the People’ shows Chinese leadership as responsive but unaccountable to the public

In his new book, Bruce J. Dickson refers to contemporary Chinese politics as a study in nuanced contrasts: authoritarian yet cooperative; repressive yet responsive to public opinion.

Books Apr 5, 2021

'First Person Singular' marks Haruki Murakami's welcome return to his signature style

The writer’s new collection of eight short stories is a return to form, with first-person narratives full of cheek and playfulness.

Books / Reviews Mar 27, 2021

‘That We May Live’: New Chinese fiction delves into the playfully weird

Explaining the difference between speculative fiction and science fiction can feel like sorting out overlapping nebulae. The main distinction of speculative fiction may be that a story is just barely possible, at a slight remove from reality that veers into the playfully weird. A ...

Books Jan 30, 2021

'An I-Novel': A tale of life abroad blurs the lines of truth and fiction

Many writers of fiction who have shared so much as a short story have heard the old question, “Is this autobiographical?” No literary genre, however, plays with the possibility of “what actually happened” as liberally as the Japanese shishо̄setsu, known to Western readers as ...