Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan - Volume 1

Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan #1

by Motoyuki Shibata (Editor), Ted Goosen (Editor)

Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan is the first annual English-language edition of the acclaimed literary magazine. Edited by Motoyuki Shibata (curator, along with Roland Kelts, of the Focus: Japan portfolio in APS 1) and Ted Goossen, this special issue is now available via A Public Space.

"We offer nothing in the way of a 'concept' or 'lifestyle' aimed at a particular age bracket or social group, no useful information to help you get ahead," write the editors. "Our inspiration for the name Monkey Business is the immortal Chuck Berry tune. No other work of art that I know of deals with the aggravations we face every day so straightforwardly and with such liberating humor. That is the guiding star we follow on this journey."

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Anthologies, Literature, Short Stories

167 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Power to translators: they do not get enough credit.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I frequently felt that I was missing important cultural context. I generally enjoyed the 'slice of life' stories most. Interview with Murakami was great; the gangster stuff I didn't care for.

Especially liked: Hiromi Kawakami, Atsushi Nakajima, Yoko Ogawa (who I already knew I loved), Koji Uno.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

of course, the long interview with murakami was illuminating. his high-fiber cereal personality intrigues me. the japanese have a great sense of humor, lots of absurdity and old school rudimentary comedy. most commonly deployed is the ironic misdirection:

"her corn-colored hair fluttered in the breeze. not long after that, i heard that same student and the [bully] fought a duel to the death over her. the word duel amazed me."

"as one would have expected, their daughters were thoroughly american. dolly was the elder, and romi the younger. dolly was five and romi two, and they sported matching lace-up shoes."

barry yourgrau's story Bougainvillea has a sort of Looney Tune coloring to it, with mobster characters that glumly return to the drawing board after each failed scheme to overthrow their rival. my only complaint is that very occasionally the writing reminded me of the droning nihilistic stuff that tao lin does. but not too much. it was nice to laugh, and to be mostly led through a story by people who write affirmatively of life and accomplishment.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very excited to hear about this project and I ordered straight away from the US. It lived up to its name, I think, with a great mix of old and new stories (I was very excited to see Nakajima Atsushi getting a bit more well deserved book space with "Sandy's Lament"!) and a great interview with Murakami Haruki. I didn't get into the poems all that much, but I'm not normally into poetry so I guess the fault is mostly my own. My favourites were Ogawa Yuko's contribution, "The Tale of the House of Physics", and "Bougainvillea" by Barry Yourgrau. The translations were all superb!!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection. Could have been a little thicker, but it was a good mix of fiction, poetry and interviews.

Particularly enjoyed the long Haruki Murakami interview, which looks over his work and discusses the craft of writing.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of new writing from Japan.