I Am a Japanese Writer

July 1, 2011

The absurdist premise of this novel is intriguing: a writer becomes famous for a book he hasn't yet written. A Canadian writer who also happens to be black, like the Haitian-born, Montreal-based Laferriere (Heading South), gets a contract for his next book based on the title, I Am a Japanese Writer. The problem is that he's a whiz at titles but not all that interested in actually writing. Nevertheless, he becomes a phenomenon in Japan, where people view his claims of Japanese nationality as a cause for celebration, and he is even hounded to some extent by a reporter, the police, and Japanese officials. The notion of what makes a celebrity is handled well here, and the Japanese officials are perhaps the most believable characters in the book. Otherwise, the novel doesn't hold one's interest throughout. The main character's fascination with the long-dead Japanese writer Basho and celebrated violinist Midori aren't quite as interesting as the fascination that others hold for him--yet another of the book's cascading ironies. VERDICT Recommended for fans of absurdist literature like that written by Kurt Vonnegut and Harold Pinter.--Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC

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