Product Description
"Don't be alarmed! I'm harmless. A harmless crank, and very, very old. Older than I look. You have nothing to fear from me." -- Mort Birnbaum
Seventy-three when the novel opens, 88 when it closes. Mort Birmbaum seems destined to live forever. As he himself says, "Just because no one else ever has doesn't mean it's impossible in principle."
A former AP journalist, a resident of Japan since 1958, burdened with a 23-volume personal diary he fears will fall into the wrong hands but can't bring himself to burn, Mort seethes in restless retirement at the home of his son (or is it his son?) and daughter-in-law in a Hokkaido village called Zenibakko -- as near to nowhere as you can get, though not near enough to suit him. He makes up his mind to approach closer -- and almost succeeds, discovering in the process that the laws of "inner space" are quite different from those of outer space.
Seventy-three when the novel opens, 88 when it closes. Mort Birmbaum seems destined to live forever. As he himself says, "Just because no one else ever has doesn't mean it's impossible in principle."
A former AP journalist, a resident of Japan since 1958, burdened with a 23-volume personal diary he fears will fall into the wrong hands but can't bring himself to burn, Mort seethes in restless retirement at the home of his son (or is it his son?) and daughter-in-law in a Hokkaido village called Zenibakko -- as near to nowhere as you can get, though not near enough to suit him. He makes up his mind to approach closer -- and almost succeeds, discovering in the process that the laws of "inner space" are quite different from those of outer space.
About the Author
Michael Hoffman grew up in Montreal, Canada, and has lived quietly in Japan since 1982. He is the author of four books of fiction and co-author of Tokyo Tabloid Vols. I and II -- collections of short pieces about some of the quirkier aspects of life in Japan. As a freelance journalist he is a regular contributor of articles, book reviews and translations to Japan's English-language media. The Tokyo Confidential column in the Japan Times is one-third of his work. He calls Hokkaido home, and has just begun sketching a birnbaum sequel.
