Pre-Owned McLellan Books Tokyo Central: A Memoir, (Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly,Edward Seidensticker (Genji Days), longtime translator of Japanese literary works from The Tale of Genji to Yuko Mishima's novels, now turns to his own story in Tokyo Central: A Memoir. Introduced to Japan in 1942, at age 21, as a language officer, Seidensticker, professor emeritus of Japanese at Columbia University, served as a diplomat during the U.S. occupation of Japan. Here he recollects his wartime experience ("grime and boredom") and his postwar acquaintance and in some cases intimacy with members of Japanese political and literary society. Peppered with delightful insider bits the widow of Junichiro Tanizaki tells Seidensticker that the theory-provoking last line of one of her husband's novels is not some ripely obscure allusion, as the critics would have it, but merely true this memoir will appeal to a small but enthusiastic audience of expatriates and Far East enthusiasts. Illus. not seen by PW. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved,Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly,Edward Seidensticker (Genji Days), longtime translator of Japanese literary works from The Tale of Genji to Yuko Mishima's novels, now turns to his own story in Tokyo Central: A Memoir. Introduced to Japan in 1942, at age 21, as a language officer, Seidensticker, professor emeritus of Japanese at Columbia University, served as a diplomat during the U.S. occupation of Japan. Here he recollects his wartime experience ("grime and boredom") and his postwar acquaintance and in some cases intimacy with members of Japanese political and literary society. Peppered with delightful insider bits the widow of Junichiro Tanizaki tells Seidensticker that the theory-provoking last line of one of her husband's novels is not some ripely obscure allusion, as the critics would have it, but merely true this memoir will appeal to a small but enthusiastic audience of expatriates and Far East enthusiasts. Illus. not seen by PW. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved