Praise for Oh! "The mysterious tension between material things and
emotional attachment to them oscillates throughout Japanese history and
culture. With a keen and sympathetic eye, Todd Shimoda explores an
individual's dangerous quest to waken his numb soul to this exquisite
reverberation. As in Kawabata Yasunari's famous novella, The Master of
Go, the lacrimae rerum of a dying tradition become a river, inexorably
flowing toward the ocean of death. Fascinated, the reader cannot help
but follow the flow." -- Liza Dalby, author of The Tale of Murasaki: A
Novel and Geisha "Can an aesthetic concept developed in Japan three
hundred years ago be revived and made relevant to a contemporary
American audience? This is what Todd Shimoda so masterly achieves in
his fascinating novel Oh! A mystery of Mono no Aware. This is a journey
through a delicate world of emotions and poetry on the part of a young
Japanese American from Los Angeles who in his search for the native
roots uncovers the complexities of being human in a world framed by
skepticism and rationality. Structured as a thriller with a most
unexpected finale, Shimoda's novel unravels like a Japanese scroll--one
cannot put it down until the last scene comes into full view and, with
it, the realization that the realm of feelings (mono no aware) is far
from being an innocent enterprise; it carries risks that one must be
ready to pay in order to fully understand. This is a brilliant
novel--it makes the reader feel the pleasure of thinking." -- Michael
F. Marra, professor of Japanese literature, UCLA "Shimoda's
multilayered Oh! shimmers with verve and nerve." -- Leza Lowitz, author
of Green Tea to Go: Stories from Tokyo "This is the most compelling and
complete account I have read of the exploration into the sudden,
intense moment of awareness; the inherent state of sadness of life; the
moments which, as Shimoda's character explains, makes us gasp 'oh!'
with heightened awareness and wistfulness." -- Laura Pritchett, author
of Sky Bridge and Hell's Bottom, Colorado
Oh! is a hybrid
novel, with nonfiction and artwork mixed in. The main storyline follows
Zack Hara, a young Japanese American searching for an emotional life
while traveling in Japan. Zack finds an ally in a professor and
underground poet who introduces him to the concept of mono no aware,
roughly translated as the emotive essence of things, or the sadness in
beauty. The professor, grieving for a missing daughter, assigns Zack a
set of mysterious tasks. Zack's search for self-discovery turns into a
search for the professor's missing daughter, and draws him into the
tragic phenomenon of suicide clubs.
Todd Shimoda, of Hawaii,
has published two popular novels that deal with Japan and Japanese
themes: 365 Views of Mt. Fuji (Stone Bridge Press) and The Fourth
Treasure (Nan Talese/Doubleday). The books have been translated into
six languages with over one hundred thousand copies printed worldwide.
The Fourth Treasure was listed as a 2002 Notable Book by the Kiriyama
Prize.
Linda Shimoda is an accomplished artist, illustrator,
and book designer. She is also the curator of the Kaua'i Museum in
Hawaii. Her illustrations and artwork have appeared in both of husband
Todd Shimoda's first two novels. In Oh!, her artwork offers clues to
the fate of the novel's protagonist, Zack Hara.
