We all know that moment, don¡¯t we? When adolescent dreams of the life we wanted suddenly feel meaningless? When everyone around us seems to have their relationships and careers figured out while we¡¯re still scrambling to understand ourselves?
Nanae Aoyama captures this very human experience with her novella, ¡°A Perfect Day to Be Alone,¡± which won the Akutagawa Prize in 2007 when the author was only 24 years old. Although she¡¯s widely translated across Europe and Asia, it is Aoyama¡¯s first work to be rendered into English. The slim work is a fitting introduction to the writer, whose tight, understated prose renders the juncture between adolescence and adulthood with humorous authenticity and tender pain.
A Perfect Day to Be Alone, by Nanae Aoyama. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood. 160 pages, QUERCUS PUBLISHING, Fiction.
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