Böcker i Japanese Literature (Dalkey)-serien

A Day in the Life contains twelve portraits of the vivid and curious realities experienced by a man in his sixties. These stories focus on the tiny paradoxes and everyday ridiculousness we each witness and of which we often take no note. Ranging from a visit to an exhibition of blurry photographs each taken with an exposure time of only a single second, to the story of a man stalked through the streets by a stranger for no greater a crime than making eye contact, A Day in the Life demonstrates why Senji Kuroi is considered one of the leading figures of contemporary Japanese literature.

This book collects two novellas by the noted Japanese painter: "e;Family Business"e; and "e;1,001 Pillars of Flame."e; In the first, Megumi-like the author, a long-time resident of the United States-pays a visit to her now eighty-seven-year-old mother in Japan. After so many years living abroad, Megumi simply can't understand contemporary Japan, and when her nephew runs away from home, and her elderly mother gives chase, Megumi finds herself having to relearn Japanese survival skills in an effort to bring them home safely. In "e;1,001 Pillars of Fire,"e; another Japanese-American woman, Yu, has been living in California for decades-which makes it all the more painful that she's just as subject to discrimination now as ever. When, in the wake of the Rodney King trial, LA's African-American population begins to riot, Yu learns just how much damage exclusion can do-finding it even within her own family.

"Yasuoka s venal, youthful first-person narrators grasp at beauty and romance amid a changing Japan in these nine stories, all published in Japan in the early 1950s . . . Tyler s translation captures Yasuoka s effortless style, registering dark but delightful impressions of youth." Publishers Weekly

Set during the US occupation following WWII, this is a novel of conflict - between Western and Eastern traditions, between a husband and his wife, between ideals and reality. Miwa Shunsuke and his wife are trapped in a strained marriage. When his wife has an affair, he is forced to come to terms with the disintegration of their relationship.