The Emissary

Japan, after suffering from a massive irreparable disaster, cuts itself off from the world. Children are so weak they can barely stand or walk: the only people with any get-go are the elderly. Mumei lives with his grandfather Yoshiro, who worries about him constantly. They carry on a day-to-day routine in what could be viewed as a post-Fukushima time, with all the children born ancient--frail and gray-haired, yet incredibly compassionate and wise. Mumei may be enfeebled and feverish, but he is a beacon of hope, full of wit and free of self-pity and pessimism. Yoshiro concentrates on nourishing Mumei, a strangely wonderful boy who offers "the beauty of the time that is yet to come."

A delightful, irrepressibly funny book, The Emissary is filled with light. Yoko Tawada, deftly turning inside-out "the curse," defies gravity and creates a playful joyous novel out of a dystopian one, with a legerdemain uniquely her own.

Author: Yoko Tawada
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Published: 04/24/2018
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 7.70h x 5.10w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780811227629
Award: National Book Awards - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 01/01/2018
Publishers Weekly 01/29/2018
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2018
Shelf Awareness 05/22/2018