Facing the Bridge
Yoko Tawada
New Directions
<p>From Japan to Vietnam to Amsterdam to the Canary Islands, these three new tales by master storyteller Yoko Tawada float between cultures, identities, and the dreamwork of the imagination</p><p>Amo, an African kidnapped to Europe as a boy, and Tamao, a Japanese exchange student in Germany, live in different countries but are being followed by the same shadow...Kazuko, a young professional tourist, is lured to Vietnam by a mysterious postcard...On the Canary Islands, a nameless translator battles a banana grove and a series of Saint Georges...</p><p>These three new tales by master storyteller Yoko Tawada cross cultures and histories with a sensuous playfulness as sweet as a box of candied hearts&#8212;even Michael Jackson makes an appearance. In Facing the Bridge, Tawada's second collection of stories with New Directions, obsession becomes delight as the reader is whisked into a world where identities flicker and shift in a never-ending balance. </p>