{"product_id":"woman-running-in-the-mountains-9781681375977","title":"Woman Running in the Mountains","description":"\u003cb\u003eSet in 1970s Japan, this tender and poetic novel about a young, single mother struggling to find her place in the world is an early triumph by a modern Japanese master.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlone at dawn, in the heat of midsummer, a young woman named Takiko Odaka departs on foot for the hospital to give birth to a baby boy. Her pregnancy, the result of a brief affair with a married man, is a source of sorrow and shame to her abusive parents. For Takiko, however, it is a cause for reverie. Her baby, she imagines, will be hers and hers alone, a challenge that she also hopes will free her. Takiko's first year as a mother is filled with the intense bodily pleasures and pains that come from caring for a newborn. At first she seeks refuge in the company of other women--in the hospital, in her son's nursery--but as the baby grows, her life becomes less circumscribed as she explores Tokyo, then ventures beyond the city into the countryside, toward a mountain that captures her imagination and desire for a wilder freedom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYūko Tsushima\u003c\/b\u003e (1947-2016) is considered one of the most important Japanese writers of her generation. She is best known for her novel \u003ci\u003eMountain of Fire\u003c\/i\u003e and her short-story collection \u003ci\u003eThe Shooting Gallery\u003c\/i\u003e. Much of her work is influenced by the oral epics and tales of pre-modern Japan, as well as her own experience as a single mother. Her father was the famous Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, who committed suicide when Tsushima was only a year old. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeraldine Harcourt\u003c\/b\u003e (1952-2019) was a translator of modern Japanese literature. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Harcourt lived in Japan for much of her life. There, she developed a close working relationship with Tsushima and translated five works by the author, including \u003ci\u003eTerritory of Light\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Shooting Gallery\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLauren Groff\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the novels \u003ci\u003eArcadia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Monsters of Templeton\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eFates and Furies\u003c\/i\u003e, and two short story collections, \u003ci\u003eDelicate Edible Birds \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eFlorida\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a two-time National Book Award nominee and was a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New York Review of Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50615007772946,"sku":"9781681375977","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a9e895cd-5cde-424c-aea1-b390dadc165f.jpg?v=1732471791","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/woman-running-in-the-mountains-9781681375977","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}