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CULTURE / Books

‘What am I, a Deer?’ searches to understand the self and others

The title of "What am I, a Deer?" is based on a short film by Isabella Rossellini's series of short films about mating rituals.

The title of "What am I, a Deer?" is based on a short film by Isabella Rossellini's series of short films about mating rituals. | GETTY IMAGES

By Kris Kosaka
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Apr 12, 2026

Translator Polly Barton’s debut novel, “What am I, a Deer?” blends fact and fiction. Its contents are from real life. Well, sort of.?

Although many details match Barton’s own life, it’s not exactly autofiction, a literary genre of fictionalized autobiography. Barton explains that writing fiction off the facts of her own life was simply “a way of accessing a sense of authenticity in the work.”?

What am I, a Deer?, by Polly Barton. 248 pages. FITZCARRALDO EDITIONS, fiction.

Amid the heat and humidity in Japan, a good night’s sleep is growing increasingly elusive without the heavy use of air conditioning.

Summer has arrived in Japan and so have hot sleepless nights

By Tomoko Otake

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan’s landscape that they often go unnoticed.

Why Japan’s utility poles won’t be disappearing anytime soon

By Alex K.T. Martin

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