Nipponia Nippon - Japanese Novellas by Kazushige Abe (author),Kerim Yasar (translator) (UK edition, Paperback) - 9781782278535

A fast-paced, darkly ironic novella from one of Japan's contemporary luminaries-and the husband of Mieko Kawakami-making his English language debutA teenager gripped by obsession seeks to free endangered birds in this darkly funny study of solitude and toxic masculinity set in modern-day TokyoPerfect for fans of Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and Kawakami's Breasts and EggsIsolated in his Tokyo apartment, 17-year-old Haruo spends all his time online, researching the plight of the endangered Japanese crested ibis, Nipponia Nippon.Living on an allowance from his parents, he drops ever further into a fantasy world in which he alone shares a special connection with the last of these noble birds, held at a conservation centre on the island of Sado.His conclusion is simple: it is his destiny to free the birds from a society that does not appreciate them, by whatever means necessary. With his emotional state becoming ever more erratic, he begins sourcing weapons and preparing for a reckoning in this darkly ironic study of toxic masculinity.