Botandoro and other stories, by Donald Richie

Botandoro
and other stories by Donald Richie

cover woodblock 1982 by Donald Richie
editor Leza Lowitz
layout & design by Studio Z
published by Printed Matter Press, Tokyo
copyright 2008 by Donald Richie
paperback, 272 pages, 140x214mm, 477g, ¥2,000 (+tax)
isbn 978-1-933606-16-3
Distributed by kk imcbook (email to contact/order)

Donald Richie has been writing and publishing since he was still a student in the USA, and today in Tokyo he continues to write and publish. This book is "a Miscellany" of previously published and unpublished work from 1941 through 2005. The stories are arranged in five sections. Not content with simple storytelling Richie explores and experiments, but his work is always fluid and easy for both casual and thoughtful reader.

"Japan is the site, the subject, the occasion of
the stream of brilliant books Donald Richie
has been issuing about the paradoxes of
modernity, culture and cultural difference, the
image-world, art, conduct, beauty, fashion,
conformity, sincerity, the pleasures of being a
foreigner, and sex."
-- Susan Sontag

Botandoro, The Peony Lantern, gives this book its title but is just the first short story in Part 1 which is devoted to stories with a Japan background. Part 2, early Richie writings, starts with A Day in the Park written in 1941. All written before he came to Japan. Part 3 holds stories written over later years. Part 4 and Part 5 each contain one longer story.

Note by this webmaster: In our position we are not entitled to review books or the comment much, but we do have to fill out a webpage with text and pictures, links, etc., and so we sometimes read the books we are working for. I have read several of Donald Richie's books, all of them about Japan, each a good and easy read. Richie writes fluidly. He seems to write with ease while others with similar ideas would have trouble getting the sentences just right. But Botandoro is somehow different. The stories have a darker cast, perhaps less commercial, perhaps wandering where others would hesitate to go. Include this book in your serious collection of work by Donald Richie, and see our list of Richie's books here.

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kk imcbook welcomes orders from booksellers, libraries, and bulk orders. If we cannot serve your location, we will refer you to a local distributor or stockist. Online see http://jpgsonline.com and http://imcbook.net. We have been providing English publication services in and from Japan since 1959: kk imcbook Tel/Fax 81-47-434-1592, email: kunikoi[at]attglobal.net. This book is also available from Kinokuniya, Maruzen, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp.

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