num_pages: 182
description: A devilishly intelligent new novel by the internationally bestselling author and Prix Mdicis winner.A black writer from Montreal has found the perfect title for his next book: I Am a Japanese Writer. His publisher gives him an advance on the strength of the title alone. The problem is he can't seem to write a word of it. He can scarcely summon the energy to put pen to paper and so he nurses his writer's block by taking long baths re-reading the works of Japanese poet Basho and engaging in amorous intrigues with rising pop star Midori and her entourage of vampire girls. For the writer though the title isn't just a title: he really does believe he is a Japanese writer. He makes this declaration in a mall and the next thing he knows he's an international celebrity. The book becomes a cult phenomenon even though he still hasn't written a word of it. In Japan it sets off a cultural revolution. A Japanese writer even publishes a book called I Am a Malagasy Writer. On the nightly news a Japanese officer declares I Am a Korean Soldier. No wonder a pair of attachs from the Japanese embassy has been following our hero around. At first he is delighted to discover his celebrity. But things quickly go wrong. Part postmodern fantasy part Kafkaesque nightmare and part travelogue to the inner reaches of the self I Am a Japanese Writer calls into question everything we think we know about what-and who-makes a work of art.
language: English
title: I Am a Japanese Writer: A Novel
publisher: Douglas & McIntyre