I Am a Japanese Writer

148 Pages·2010·0.74 MB·English

by  Laferriere Dany

I AM A JAPANESE WRITER
A NOVEL
I AM A
JAPANESE
WRITER
A NOVEL
DANY LAFERRIÈRE
translated by DAVID HOMEL
Copyright © 2008 Dany Laferrière
Translation copyright © 2010 David Homel
First U.S. edition 2011
10 11 12 13 14 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
the prior written consent of the publisher or a license from The Canadian
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visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
Douglas & McIntyre
An imprint of D&M Publishers Inc.
2323 Quebec Street, Suite 201
Vancouver BC Canada V5T 4s7
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada
ISBN 978-1-55365583-1 (pbk.) • ISBN 978-1-55365-639-5 (ebook)
Cover and text design and voodoo doll by Peter Cocking
Cover photograph by John Sherlock
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Text pages printed on acidfree,
FSC certified, 100% post consumer paper
Distributed in the U.S. by Publishers Group West
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for
the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia
through the Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Government of Canada
through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We acknowledge
the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the National
Translation Program for Book Publishing, for our translation activities.
...........................
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: For Basho, I wish to acknowledge the versions
by Sam Hamill and David Landis Barnhill. The translations of
Paul Veyne are my own. DH
The beginning of all art
in the deep north
a rice-planting song
BASHO
FOR everyone who would
like to be someone else
Contents
The Fastest In America
At The Fish Store
An Anxious Salmon
A Pocket Guide To Asia
Life On Your Feet
Basho In The Metro
The Kiss At The Café Sarajevo
The Nippon At The Eiffel Tower
The Bjork Voodoo Doll
Primitive Painters
Objects
The Midori Gang
A Poison Kiss
Eiko's Endless Back
Crisscross
The Human Machine
The Negro's Defeat
A Sunday In The Provinces
In The Bath
La Petite Mort
The Final Leap
A Song For Midori
French Kiss
A Ping-Pong Game
Do You Like Sushi?
Are You A Writer?
Manga Death
Plato And The Landlord
Hideko's Secret
The Park
The Trojan War
A Dish Of Spaghetti
In Front Of The Tv Set
The Cop's Nightstick
The Time Of The Mimosas
The Weather Girl
The Sorrows Of Mr. Tanizaki
Americanize /Japanize
Ego Zoom
The Coldest Eye
Soft Skin
Kamikaze
The Publisher Of Stockholm
The Cannibal In His Hometown
Metamorphoses
A Splendid View Of The River
Chronicle Of A Dispossession
Magic Moment
Are You Playing The