Even Monkeys Fall from Trees: The Wit and Wisdom of Japanese Proverbs

by David Galef, Jun Hashimoto (Illustrator)

Even Monkeys Fall From Trees: The Wit and Wisdom of Japanese Proverbs, with a foreword by Edward G. Seidensticker, is a collection of the hundred most common Japanese proverbs, with direct translations and their English equivalents.

A delightful window into the heart of everyday Japan, Even Monkeys Fall From Trees is an indispensable guide for the traveler, student, or businessman—or anyone curious about the culture of Japan.

Genres: Japan, Folklore

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

I’ve published extremely short fiction in the collections Laugh Track and My Date with Neanderthal Woman (Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize), extremely long fiction in the novels Flesh, Turning Japanese, and How to Cope with Suburban Stress (Kirkus Best Books of the Year), and a lot in between. My latest is Brevity: A Flash Fiction Handbook, from Columbia University Press. Day job: professor of English and creative writing program director at Montclair State University. I’m also the editor in chief at Vestal Review, the longest-running flash fiction magazine on the planet.
@dgalef
https://davidgalef.com/
https://www.vestalreview.net/

Reviews

[Slow Culture Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pocket wisdom at its finest.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't get the meaning of all of them, but they were fantastic all the same!

[Soki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book of proverbs, nothing too hard hitting. Only a sentence and a picture to go with each one.

[Malvika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful Proverbs! I got them all, except one but Galef provides related English proverbs at the back so I didn't have a lot of problem.
Also, absolutely loved Jun Hashimoto's art!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wished there were more. 100 is not enough!