The Guest Cat: The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller by Takashi Hiraide

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Book Description

A charming and wonderful novel about a cat that brings joy into a couple's life.

A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo. They work at home as freelance writers. They no longer have very much to say to one another.

One day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. She is a beautiful creature. She leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. New, small joys accompany the cat; the days have more light and colour. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife; they go walking together, talk and share stories of the cat and its little ways, play in the nearby Garden. But then something happens that will change everything again.

The Guest Cat is an exceptionally moving and beautiful novel about the nature of life and the way it feels to live it. Written by Japanese poet and novelist Takashi Hiraide, the book won Japan's Kiyama Shohei Literary Award, and was a bestseller in France and America.

Review

What initially reads like free association turns out to be a near-microscopic record of emotion and phenomena.--Alan Gilbert

The best novels are often the ones that change us. Over time, they stay with us- like small miracles. Takashi Hiraide, the Japanese poet and novelist, blindsided me- he shows himself to be a poet of the highest grade. A rare treasure, beautiful and profound; whether you're a cat lover or not, don't pass this one up. ultimately, it's about what it means to love and to lose. Even dog lovers will relate.--Juan Vidal

A beautiful, ornate read, brimming with philosophical observation, humor and intelligence.
Hiraide's work really shines--Kenzaburo Oe

An unusually intimate, detailed and vivid picture of a place that is simultaneously private and open.--V.V. Ganeshananthan

It's clear there is a tradition of literary works centering on or featuring cats in modern Japanese, and we now have from New Directions a translation of a splendid addition to that list. (...) a work of subtleties revealed only with repeated readings. I recommend it unreservedly to the general reader.--Paul McCarthy

The little feline sets off a chain of disquisitions on nature, destiny, joy, pleasure, and sorrow--Nina Sankovitch

A wonderful tale about the desire to possess and the pain of absence. And such writing! Precise, delicate, enchanting.

Product details

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: Picador; Main Market Ed. edition (25 Sept. 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1447279409

ISBN-13: 978-1447279402

Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 0.9 x 13 cm

About the Author

Takashi Hiraide was born in Moji, Kitakyushu in 1950. He has published numerous books of poetry as well as several books of genre-bending essays, including one on poetics and baseball. He currently lives in the west suburbs of Tokyo with a cat and his wife, the poet Michiyo Kawano.