{"product_id":"lady-joker-volume-1-paperback","title":"Lady Joker, Volume 1 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eKaoru Takamura\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAllison Markin Powell\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eMarie Iida\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of Japan's great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIntent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan's largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by \"the Monster with 21 Faces,\" \u003ci\u003eLady Joker\u003c\/i\u003e has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan's literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKaoru Takamura\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Osaka in 1953 and is the author of thirteen novels. Her debut, \u003ci\u003e Grab the Money and Run\u003c\/i\u003e, won the 1990 Japan Mystery and Suspense Grand Prize, and since then her work has been recognized with many of Japan's most prestigious awards for literary fiction as well as for crime fiction: the Naoki Prize, the Noma Literary Award, the Yomiuri Prize, the Shinran Prize, the Jiro Osaragi Prize, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, and the Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize. \u003ci\u003eLady Joker\u003c\/i\u003e, her first novel to be translated into English, received the Mainichi Arts Award and has been adapted into both a film and a television series. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAllison Markin Powell\u003c\/b\u003e is a literary translator, editor, and publishing consultant. She has been awarded grants from English PEN and the NEA, and the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for \u003ci\u003eThe Ten Loves of Nishino\u003c\/i\u003e by Hiromi Kawakami. Her other translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Kanako Nishi, and Fuminori Nakamura. She was the guest editor for the first Japan issue of \u003ci\u003eWords Without Borders\u003c\/i\u003e, and she maintains the database Japanese Literature in English. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eMarie Iida\u003c\/b\u003e has served as an interpreter for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Marie Kondo's Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary series, \u003ci\u003eTidying Up with Marie Kondo.\u003c\/i\u003e Her nonfiction translations have appeared in \u003ci\u003eNang\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMoMA Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEureka \u003c\/i\u003eand over half a dozen monographs on contemporary Japanese artists and architects, including Yayoi Kusama, Toyo Ito, and Kenya Hara for Rizzoli New York. Marie currently writes a monthly column for \u003ci\u003eGentosha Plus\u003c\/i\u003e about communicating in English as a native Japanese speaker.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.65 x 8.25 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 12, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51766736093472,"sku":"9781641293945","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/ac14a8ede253fc249bf25b36b74e0f7b.webp?v=1780297884","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/lady-joker-volume-1-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}