Before Hiroshima: The Confession of Murayama Kazuo and Other Stories

by Josh Barkan

As death approaches, an old Japanese man finds it necessary to clean his soul, to confront the mistakes of his youth, and to confess about a time when he might have been able to save the thousands who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The title novella is complemented by Five Stories. In the rest of the collection, through Barkan’s beautifully direct style and canny ability to enter the mind, the reader gets to know a wide range of characters intimately. In “Forty,” a man from Boston travels to a wildlife refuge in Uganda, seeking to overcome a personal crisis. In “Suspended,” an amnesiac in Hawaii attempts to discover his real identity. “Shanghaied” features two lonely co-workers searching for love and excitement while on vacation. “Banana Bat” tells of a newlywed couple, honeymooning in Costa Rica, working to patch up an already faltering marriage. And in “The Warrior,” a young man falls in love with a woman whose fiancé committed suicide following the Gulf War.

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2011

About the author

JOSH BARKAN won the Lightship International Short Story Prize and was runner-up for the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, the Paterson Fiction Prize, the Juniper Prize for Fiction, and the Eric Hoffer Award for memoir. He is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and his writing has appeared in Esquire. He has taught creative writing at Harvard, NYU, the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, Hollins University and MIT. His books include the novel Blind Speed and short story collections Before Hiroshima and Mexico (Hogarth/Penguin Random House)—named one of the five best story collections of 2017 by Library Journal. His latest book is the memoir Wonder Travels. He lives in Boston.

Reviews

[Chinook · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title story was really good. A solid four stars. The other five didn't do too much for me. They were fine and the overarching theme of loneliness was well done but I'm not terribly good with short stories and they just weren't quite enough.

[Bob Newport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark stories. Brilliant prose

Each story was compelling. Each carried me to a different place in my psyche. Each was believable. I want more.

[John Treat · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is very hard to read a book whose first page has multiple mistakes on it. Those addresses are impossible. Shame on you, Josh Barkan.