Hiraide’s work really shines—Kenzaburo Oe
Takashi Hiraide was born in Moji, Kitakyushu in 1950. Hiraide has written numerous books of poetry and several books of genre-bending essays, including one on poetics and baseball. He currently lives in the west suburbs of Tokyo with a cat and his wife, the poet Michiyo Kawano. His novel, The Guest Cat, is a New York Times Bestseller.
Translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland
Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu
An unusually intimate, detailed and vivid picture of a place that is simultaneously private and open.—The New York Times Book Review
It’s clear there is a tradition of literary works centering on or featuring cats in modern Japanese, and we now have from New Directions a translation of a splendid addition to that list. … a work of subtleties revealed only with repeated readings. I recommend it unreservedly to the general reader.—Paul McCarthy, The Japan Times
The little feline sets off a chain of disquisitions on nature, destiny, joy, pleasure, and sorrow.—Huffington Post
A seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences, whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae: what initially reads like free association turns out to be a near-microscopic record of emotions and phenomena.—Alan Gilbert, The Believer
Hiraide’s work really shines—Kenzaburo Oe
The Guest Cat is a rare treasure.—NPR
Even in translation, [Hiraide’s] fine poetry really shines. At times I am reminded of T.S. Eliot.—Kenzaburo Oe
