{"product_id":"9781737625308","title":"The Thorn Puller","description":"Author: Hiromi Ito\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781737625308\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Adventure Publications\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 01 Jun 2023\u003cbr\u003ePages: 300\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Sakutaro Hagiwara Prize and the MurasakiShikibu Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntroducing Hiromi Ito, an award-winning Japanese author who has been compared to Haruki Murakami and Yoko Tawada.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first novel to appear in English by award-winning author Hiromi Itoexplores the absurdities, complexities, and challenges experienced by a woman caring for her two families: her husband and daughters in California and her aging parents in Japan. As the narrator shuttles back and forth between these two starkly different cultures, she creates a powerful and entertaining narrative about what it means to live and die in a globalized society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIto has been described as a \u0026amp;#x27;shaman of poetry\u0026amp;#x27; because of her skill in allowing the voices of others to flow through her. Here she enriches her semi-autobiographical novel by channeling myriad voices drawn from Japanese folklore, poetry, literature, and pop culture. The result is a generic chimera - part poetry, part prose, part epic - a unique, transnational, polyvocal mode of storytelling. One throughline is a series of memories associated with the Buddhist bodhisattva Jizo, who helps to remove the \u0026amp;#x27;thorns\u0026amp;#x27; of human suffering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Overflowing and contradictory, worn down with fatigue, yet brimming with energy, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Thorn Puller\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e combines a confessional story of a woman dealing with family commitments in two countries with vibrant excursions into Japanese folklore and history.\u0026amp;#x27; - Richard Medhurst, Nippon.com\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;With ruthless honesty and wicked humor, Ito exposes the frustration and inconvenience of being a caregiver, juxtaposing it with the sorrow of watching a loved one deteriorate.\u0026amp;#x27; - \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword Reviews, starred review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Poet Ito makes her English-language fiction debut with a lyrical account of a woman caught between two cultures and her family's demands...Fans of Japanese literature will enjoy this impressionistic project.\u0026amp;#x27; - \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u0026amp;#x27;Ito\u0026amp;#x27;s chameleonic prose confronts mortality, cultural conflicts, religious comforts, and waning relationships, embellished with all manner of welcoming, unfiltered, surprisingly humorous honesty about the universally quotidian, from pimple-popping to good sex.\u0026amp;#x27; - Terry Hong, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46839805935774,"sku":"ADS-9781737625308","price":34.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781737625308.jpg?v=1778827085","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781737625308","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}