Yūko Tsushima (1947-2016) is considered one of the most important
Japanese writers of her generation. She is best known for her novel
Mountain of Fire and her short-story collection The Shooting
Gallery. Much of her work is influenced by the oral epics and tales
of pre-modern Japan, as well as her own experience as a single
mother. Her father was the famous Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, who
committed suicide when Tsushima was only a year old. Her work has
been translated into over a dozen languages.
Geraldine Harcourt (1952-2019) was a translator of modern Japanese
literature. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Harcourt lived in Japan
for much of her life. There, she developed a close working
relationship with Tsushima and translated five works by the author,
including Territory of Light and The Shooting Gallery.
Lauren Groff is the author of the novelsArcadia,The Monsters of
Templeton, andFates and Furies,and two short story
collections,Delicate Edible BirdsandFlorida. She is a two-time
National Book Award nominee and was a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow.She
lives in Gainesville, Florida.
"[Tsushima’s] prose is clear and plain, with an air of innocence.
It’s punctuated by moments of intense beauty – images both sublime
and disconcerting, revealing undercurrents of
rebellion." —Jessica Au, London Review of Books
"Recently reissued in English translation, Woman Running in the
Mountains is a collaboration between two remarkable women. Author
Yūko Tsushima . . . and the highly-regarded translator Geraldine
Harcourt. . . For a reader who is also a mother, Takiko’s
experiences are notably familiar, even from the perspective of an
Anglo-American four decades after the novel’s original
publication." —Alison Fincher, Asian Review of Books
"Takiko represents a vision of a future generation of Japanese
women: independent, intuitive, autonomous. Whether or not she
succeeds is – unfortunately for Takiko herself – beside the point;
Tsushima is making a broader argument for the capacity and rights
of women to surpass the roles historically determined for them. . .
a smooth read: Tsushima’s style is clear and direct. . . . A
deserved classic and one that will hopefully with this reissue
garner a wider English-speaking audience." —Bookmunch
"Yuko Tsushima was a prolific writer, known for her stories that
center on women striving for survival and dignity outside the
confines of patriarchal expectations. Even after her passing in
2016, Tsushima’s literary legacy continues. . . Groundbreaking in
content and style, Tsushima authored more than 35 novels, as well
as numerous essays and short stories." —Kris Kosaka, Japan
Times
"The book’s quotient of plainspoken to sensuous lines is remarkably
even. . . What gives the narrative its propulsive quality are its
dreamlike, almost mystical sequences." —Rhoda Feng, Minneapolis
Tribune
"The loneliness of modern existence tinged with a hopeful
melancholy... [Yuko Tsushima] deserves to be much more widely known
outside Japan." —Iain Maloney, Japanese Times
“This book is about calming the demons that pursue women who seek
their own way, and about the triumphant superiority of feminine
intuition.” —Susan Cheever, Los Angeles Times
“The author of over 35 novels and countless short stories and
essays, Tsushima left behind a stunning legacy of stylistically
inventive and lyrically fierce prose that continually featured
individuals pushed to the edges of society.” —The Japan Times
“Woman Running in the Mountains captures the private intensity of
early motherhood like none other. Everyone should read Tsushima, a
fierce marvel of a writer, who seems to write to us at once from
the past and the future.” —Rivka Galchen
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