Yasutaka Tsutsui is a celebrated Japanese novelist renowned for his masterful blend of dark humor and biting satire. He fearlessly tackles societal taboos, challenging conventional norms with a provocative style that has both garnered critical acclaim and sparked controversy. His innovative literary approach and willingness to explore unconventional themes have cemented his status as a significant voice in science fiction. Tsutsui's influence extends beyond traditional publishing, as he became an early adopter of digital platforms, further shaping the landscape of contemporary literature.
This collection showcases Yasutaka Tsutsui's diverse storytelling, blending dark comedy, satire, science fiction, and surrealism. The award-winning author explores taboo subjects like disabilities, the Emperor, and old age, challenging literary norms and social values. Recognized as a pioneer of post-modern science fiction in Japan, Tsutsui's work provokes thought and discussion, pushing boundaries in both content and form.
Widely acknowledged as Yasutaka Tsutsui's masterpiece, Paprika unites his surreal, quirky imagination with a mind-bending narrative about a psychiatric institute that has developed the technology to invade people's dreams. When prototype models of a dream-invading device go missing at the Institute for Psychiatric Research, it transpires that someone is using them to drive people insane. Threatened both personally and professionally, brilliant psychotherapist Atsuko Chiba has to journey into the world of fantasy to fight her mysterious opponents. As she delves ever deeper into the imagination, the borderline between dream and reality becomes increasingly blurred, and nightmares begin to leak into the everyday realm. The scene is set for a final showdown between the dream detective and her enemies, with the subconscious as their battleground, and the future of the waking world at stake.
Nanase has the unusual ability to read minds, which she has never questioned in her eighteen years. As a live-in maid, she becomes entangled in the lives and desires of her employers, leading to both dangerous and humorous situations.
"After finding a broken beaker in the science lab, Kazuko finds herself back in her own past and learns she can travel through time, but her attempts to use the ability to help others always change the future and may bring bad consequences."--Amazon website
An irresistible mix of imagination, satire, and humor, these stories by acclaimed Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui imagine the consequences of a world where the fantastic and the mundane collide. The opening story, “The Dabba Dabba Tree,” details the hilarious side effects of a small conical tree that, when placed at the foot of one’s bed, creates erotic dreams. In “Commuter Army,” a sly commentary on the ludicrousness of war, a weapons supplier becomes an unwilling conscript in a war zone. “The World is Tilting” imagines a floating city that slowly begins to sink on one side, causing its citizens to reorient their daily lives to preserve a semblance of normality. And in the title story, we see how obscenely absurd the environment on Planet Porno appears to a group of scientists. The stories in Salmonella Men on Planet Porno winningly combine madcap hilarity and a sharp eye toward the insanities of contemporary life.
"Kazuko is a high school senior who has no idea what she wants to do in the future. Alone one day after school, she discovers a broken beaker in the science lab. She smells something sweet in the air, passes out, and finds herself transported back to her own past! Will Kazuko use her ability to travel through time wisely or selfishly?"--Publisher's web site
One of Tsutsui's best-known and most popular works in his native Japan, The Girl Who Leapt through Time is the story of fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Kazuko, who accidentally discovers that she can leap back and forth in time.