Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (Japan's Modern Writers) [Paperback]

Alfred Birnbaum (Editor), Elmer Luke (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993 | Series: Japan's Modern Writers

"Monkey Brain Sushi" features 11 stories which introduce the brightest and boldest voices in Japanese fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As translator and editor Birnbaum aptly points out in his stylish introduction, ``Originality--as distinct from creativity--has never been a Japanese obsession; the society works best within found forms.'' Accordingly, the collection reflects what may seem to Westerners an almost decadent interest in pastiche, in literary appropriation and in the flouting of tradition for its own sake. Hipper than thou, most of the 11 young writers represented here appear out to shock an easily titillated society. Amy Yamada, Japan's answer to Mary Gaitskill, dishes up the words of a ``queen'' employed at an S & M club; in a piece by Masahiko Shimada, described as ``a parody for which there is no original,'' the narrator announces early on, ``My genitals were made for masturbation. Masturbation, my genitals, and my room form a fatal triangle.'' Other contributions are slightly effete: Gen'ichiro Takahashi, for example, serves up a witty deconstructionist critique. Satire reigns supreme, and the most successful and ``original'' entry is by the best-known contributor, Haruki Murakami, who uses mass-media images to deflate the life of an ad man.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"... tend toward near-zero emotional chill, stunned urbanity.... have wit and something to say about their society." -- New York Times Book Review

"A lively mixture of gritty realism and comic or ironic fantasy." -- Atlantic

"Cyberpunk, sci-fi, feminist, and erotic tales ... a lively, electric picture of contemporary Japanese society." -- Booklist

"One of the most wholly creative collections I've read in quite a while." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

"What distinguishes these stories are their narrators' voices: conversational, knowing, and liberally dosed with drop-dead wit." -- Times Literary Supplement

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International (JPN) (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770016883
• ISBN-13: 978-4770016881
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,467,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surreal, surprising Japanese sampling, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (Japan's Modern Writers) (Paperback)

Who could resist the title of this collection? I stumbled across it in a bookstore one day, and I had to have it. Even if it turned out to be horrible. Of course, lucky for me, it turned out to be... an unbelievable surprise. The editor of this collection of short stories by contemporary Japanese authors stressed in his introduction that these are not at all the traditional sort of Japanese tales we (having read traditional Japanese lit) have come to expect. The newest generation of Japanese writers is not bound by the same sort of literary tradition and cultural "preservation" that past writers have been. The tone of the entire book is somewhat irreverent. Themes that prevail in this collection include: the disintegration of traditional values/ disconnection from family, from people, from life, from self (obsession with television and video games), alienation, looking for something to hold onto or relate to (shopping as religion, creating one's own religion), and even a lesbian relationship between a middle aged woman and a younger woman truck driver. This book explores post World War II Japan on a level that is quite telling, somewhat disturbing and kind of surreal. I also see that a lot of themes that recur can be mirrored in American society, this disconnection and seeming desire to belong. I particularly enjoyed the story by Masahiko Shimada; his book Dream Messenger, which is also quite surreal and good, is widely available in English.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Up-and-Coming Japanese Authors, April 1, 1999

By 

"hemizygous" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (Japan's Modern Writers) (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology of short stories by Japanese authors, which ranges from well known, to up-and-coming, to manga, even. Most of the tales are very inventive, and are written (and translated) as well as any American modern author could hope to do! My only gripe is that finding any further work by these writers, with the exception of Haruki Murakami, is proving to be exceedingly difficult, even on Amazon.com.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Check out what's happening in Japan now., August 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction (Japan's Modern Writers) (Paperback)

If Kobo Abe made our ideas of Japanese literature twist and metamorphosize before our eyes like live prawn in hot sauce, then check out these short stories and novel excerpts (including a graphic short novel) from some inventive yet accessible Japanese writers. Note their connection to the rest of the world, the use of Marquez, the notation to Saul Bellow. See where things are going, and you will enjoy them along the way