WEATHERHEAD BOOKS ON ASIA
Abe Kōbō. Beasts Head for Home: A Novel
Translated by Richard F. Calichman (2017)
“The earliest work by one of Japan’s foremost writers to appear in English, Beasts Head for Home tells the story of a young Japanese man who undertakes a harrowing journey in an attempt to reach Japan after the collapse of the Japanese Empire. The story is particularly affecting to read in this historical moment with so much forced migration all over the world. Calichman’s translation is flawless.”
– J. Keith Vincent, translator of Devils in Daylight by Junichiro Tanizaki
“Abe Kōbō is one of the most respected postwar Japanese fiction writers and internationally recognized for the unique style, philosophical depth, and experimental quality of his fiction. Although Beasts Head for Home is not one of Abe’s most well-known works, readers will be eager to see how he wrote about an important historical moment from an essentially realist perspective. An excellent translation of a novel in need of an English-language version.”
– Travis Workman, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
