Banana Yoshimoto

Megan Backus

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

"Ms. Yoshimoto's writing is lucid, earnest and disarming. ... [It] seizes hold of the reader's sympathy and refuses to let go." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

With the publication of Kitchen, the dazzling English-language debut that is still her best-loved book, the literary world realized that Yoshimoto was a young writer of enduring talent whose work has quickly earned a place among the best of contemporary Japanese literature. Kitchen is an enchantingly original book that juxtaposes two tales about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Mikage, the heroine, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father) Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.

In a whimsical style that recalls the early Marguerite Duras, "Kitchen" and its companion story, "Moonlight Shadow," are elegant tales whose seeming simplicity is the ruse of a very special writer whose voice echoes in the mind and the soul.

Kitchen

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Missouri

Asa Yoneda

California

A Novel

"A beautiful translation . . . Yoshimoto deploys a magically Japanese light touch to emotionally and existentially tough subject matter: domestic disarray, loneliness, identity issues, lovesickness . . . [a] nimble narrative." ―ELLE In Moshi Moshi, Yoshie’s much–loved musician father has died in a suicide pact with an unknown woman. It is only when Yoshie and her mother move to Shimokitazawa, a traditional Tokyo neighborhood of narrow streets, quirky shops, and friendly residents that they can finally start to put their painful past behind them. However, despite their attempts to move forward, Yoshie is haunted by nightmares in which her father is looking for the phone he left behind on the day he died, or on which she is trying—unsuccessfully—to call him. Is her dead father trying to communicate a message to her through these dreams? With the lightness of touch and surreal detachment that are the hallmarks of her writing, Banana Yoshimoto turns a potential tragedy into a poignant coming–of–age ghost story and a life–affirming homage to the healing powers of community, food, and family.

Moshi Moshi

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Pennsylvania

"N.P." is the title of the latest work, written in English, by a celebrated Japanese writer, but whenever anyone tries to translate the work into Japanese, death gets in the way

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Virginia

Russel F. Wasden

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

North Carolina

An actress' mysterious, scandalous death leads her older sister, a kid brother with mystical powers, and her fiance on a sorrow-filled journey through grief, redemption, and recovery that takes them to a final confrontation with the spirits of the dead on a remote Pacific island

Amrita

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Washington

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and heartfelt story of a young woman haunted by her childhood and the inescapable bitterness that inevitably comes from knowing the truth “There’s a matter-of-factness to Yoshimoto’s prose that would feel stultifying if it weren’t so mischievous…Yoshimoto bucks beautifully against convention” —New York Times Book Review Yayoi, a 19-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino. No one understands her aunt’s unusual lifestyle. For as long as Yayoi can remember, Yukino has lived alone in an old gloomy single-family home, quietly, almost as though asleep. When she is not working, Yukino spends all day in her pajamas, clipping her nails and trimming her split ends. She eats only when she feels like it, and she often falls asleep lying on her side in the hallway. She sometimes wakes Yayoi at 2:00 a.m to be her drinking companion, sometimes serves flan in a huge mixing bowl for dinner, and watches Friday the 13th over and over to comfort herself. A child study desk, old stuffed animals—things Yukino wants to forget—are piled up in her backyard like a graveyard of her memories. An instant bestseller in Japan when first published in 1988, The Premonition is finally available in English, translated by the celebrated Asa Yoneda.

The Premonition

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Georgia

The deeply moving new novel from the beloved, internationally bestselling author of Kitchen.

Michael Emmerich

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Texas

The New York Daily News has called Asleep "enchanting, surreal . . . Yoshimoto brings readers to another powerful, atmospheric place". Demonstrating again the artful simplicity and depth of her vision, Banana Yoshimoto reestablishes her place as a writer of international stature in a book that may be her most delightful since Kitchen.

In Asleep, Yoshimoto spins the stories of three young women bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by a woman against whom she was once pitted in a love triangle.

Sly and mystical as a ghost story, with a touch of Kafkaesque surrealism, Asleep is an enchanting new book from one of the best writers in contemporary international fiction.

Asleep

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Ann Sherif

Contains a personalized stamp on the title page

Ohio

A collection of short stories demonstrates the author's Japanese postmodernism--a blend of the traditional with the latest in popular culture

Lizard

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Minimal shelf edge wear.  No marks inside.  

I shall refer to her as Lizard here, but not because of the small lizard tattoo that I discovered on her inner thigh.
The woman has round, black eyes that gaze at you with utter detachment, like the eyes of a reptile. Every bend and curve of her small body is cool to the touch, so cool that I want to scoop her up in my two hands.
This may bring to mind the image of a man holding a bunny or a chick, but that's not what I mean. What I imagine is the strange, tickling sensation of sharp claws scampering around in my palms. And then, when I open up my hands to take a peek, a thin, red tongue lashes out. Reflected in those glassy eyes, I see my own lonely face, peering down, looking for something to love and cherish. That's what Lizard feels like to me....

Alaska

Relates the experiences of two free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan

never been read, just some scuffing near the binding of book 

South Carolina

Stories

"This is a supremely hopeful book, one that feels important because it shows that happiness, while not always easy, is still a subject worthy of art." --Brandon Taylor, The New York Times Book Review

Japan's internationally celebrated master storyteller returns with five stories of women on their way to healing that vividly portrays the blissful moments and everyday sorrows that surround us in everyday life

First published in Japan in 2003 and never before published in the United States, Dead-End Memories collects the stories of five women who, following sudden and painful events, quietly discover their ways back to recovery.

Among the women we meet in Dead-End Memories is one betrayed by her fiancé who finds a perfect refuge in an apartment above her uncle's bar while seeking the real meaning of happiness. In "House of Ghosts," the daughter of a yoshoku restaurant owner encounters the ghosts of a sweet elderly couple who haven't yet realized that they've been dead for years. In "Tomo-chan's Happiness," an office worker who is a victim of sexual assault finally catches sight of the hope of romance.

Yoshimoto's gentle, effortless prose reminds us that one true miracle can be as simple as having someone to share a meal with, and that happiness is always within us if only we take a moment to pause and reflect. Discover this collection of what Yoshimoto herself calls the "most precious work of my writing career."

Dead-End Memories

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Two stories, "Kitchen" and "Moonlight Shadow," told through the eyes of a pair of contemporary young Japanese women, deal with the themes of mothers, love, transsexuality, kitchens, and tragedy. Reprint. NYT.

The dust cover has slight wear, the book is in like new condition. 

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and heartfelt story of a young woman haunted by her childhood and the inescapable bitterness that inevitably comes from knowing the truth Yayoi, a nineteen-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino. No one understands her aunt’s unusual lifestyle. For as long as Yayoi can remember, Yukino has lived alone in an old gloomy single-family home, quietly, almost as though asleep. When she is not working, Yukino spends all day in her pajamas, clipping her nails and trimming her split ends. She eats only when she feels like it, and she often falls asleep lying on her side in the hallway. She sometimes wakes Yayoi at two in the morning to be her drinking companion, sometimes serves flan in a huge mixing bowl for dinner, and watches Friday the 13th over and over to comfort herself. A study desk, old stuffed animals––things Yukino wants to forget––are piled up in her backyard like a graveyard of her memories. An instant bestseller in Japan when first published in 1988, The Premonition is finally available for the first time in English, translated by the celebrated Asa Yoneda.

Kansas

Florida

Herbert W. Wind

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Hawaii

After losing her delicate younger sister to suicide, a Japanese-American woman incurs a case of amnesia and embarks on an emotional journey of recovery, aided by her clairvoyant kid brother. By the author of Kitchen. Reprint.

Little to no creasing in the binding and pages are in great condition

Nebraska

Banana Yoshimoto's novels of young life in Japan have made her an international sensation. Goodbye Tsugumi is an offbeat story of a deep and complicated friendship between two female cousins that ranks among her best work. Maria is the only daughter of an unmarried woman. She has grown up at the seaside alongside her cousin Tsugumi, a lifelong invalid, charismatic, spoiled, and occasionally cruel. Now Maria's father is finally able to bring Maria and her mother to Tokyo, ushering Maria into a world of university, impending adulthood, and a "normal" family. When Tsugumi invites Maria to spend a last summer by the sea, a restful idyll becomes a time of dramatic growth as Tsugumi finds love and Maria learns the true meaning of home and family. She also has to confront both Tsugumi's inner strength and the real possibility of losing her. Goodbye Tsugumi is a beguiling, resonant novel from one of the world's finest young writers.

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Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

Moshi Moshi

Banana Yoshimoto

NP

Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

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Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

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Lizard

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Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

Kitchen

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Amrita

Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

Dead-End Memories

Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

The Premonition

Banana Yoshimoto; Megan Backus

Kitchen

Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

The Premonition

Banana Yoshimoto; Ann Sherif

Lizard

Herbert W. Wind; Banana Yoshimoto

Amrita

Banana Yoshimoto; Ann Sherif

Lizard

Banana Yoshimoto

Goodbye Tsugumi

Banana Yoshimoto; Asa Yoneda

The Premonition