A Riot of Goldfish

By Kanoko Okamoto, Translated by J. Keith Vincent, Foreword by David Mitchell

Hesperus Worldwide

FICTION

136 Pages, 5 x 7.5

Trade Paper, $16.95 (US $16.95) (CA $18.95)

Publication Date: January 2011

ISBN 9781843918523

Rights: US, CA, AU & NZ

Hesperus Press (Jan 2011)

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Overview

Obsession and desire swirl through these two novellas by Kanoko Okamato, as she describes Japanese society poised in a moment of peace before the world was torn apart by war.

In early 20th-century Japan, the son of lower-class goldfish sellers falls in love with the beautiful daughter of his rich patron. After he is sent away to study the science of goldfish breeding, with strict orders to return and make his patron's fortune, he vows to devote his life to producing one ideal, perfect goldfish specimen to reflect his loved-one's beauty. This poignant and deft tale is presented along with the story of a pauper from Kyoto who teaches himself to be an accomplished chef.

Reviews

"These two novellas present a diptych of the artist in Japanese society during the transition from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) through to the beginnings of the Showa Era (1926-1989). J. Keith Vincent's translation is smooth, intelligent and unobtrusive—as all good translations should be. The English novelist David Mitchell provides an illuminating introduction to an author who blazed her own way through the conservatism of early 20th century Japanese society." —Japan Times

Author Biography

Kanoko Okamoto (1889–1939) was a Japanese poet, novelist, and scholar of Buddhism whose prose works examine the relationships between the classes and sexes in her contemporary Japan. The twice-Booker short-listed author of Black Swan Green, Cloud Atlas, Ghostwritten, and Number9Dream, in 2007 David Mitchell was listed among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. J. Keith Vincent is a 2011 winner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, awarded by the Donald Keene Centre of Japanese Culture at Columbia University.

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