Awards

• Short-listed for ABA Indies Choice Book Award 2016
• Short-listed for Book Data/ABA Book of the Year Award 2016
• Short-listed for Northern California Book Award 2016
• Short-listed for PEN/Open Book Award 2016
• Shortlisted for Book Data/ABA Book of the Year Award 2016.
• Winner of ABA Indies Choice Book Award 2017

Overview

Marie Mutsuki Mockett's family owns a Buddhist temple 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In March 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami, radiation levels prohibited the burial of her Japanese grandfather's bones. As Japan mourned thousands of people lost in the disaster, Mockett also grieved for her American father, who had died unexpectedly. Seeking consolation, Mockett is guided by a colorful cast of Zen priests and ordinary Japanese who perform rituals that disturb, haunt, and finally uplift her. Her journey leads her into the radiation zone in an intricate white hazmat suit; to Eiheiji, a school for Zen Buddhist monks; on a visit to a Crab Lady and Fuzzy-Headed Priest's temple on Mount Doom; and into the ""thick dark"" of the subterranean labyrinth under Kiyomizu temple, among other twists and turns. From the ecstasy of a cherry blossom festival in the radiation zone to the ghosts inhabiting chopsticks, Mockett writes of both the earthly and the sublime with extraordinary sensitivity. Her unpretentious and engaging voice makes her the kind of companion a reader wants to stay with wherever she goes, even into the heart of grief itself.

Full Product Details

9780393352290

Table of Contents

Reviews

[Mockett] has written an odd, revealing and at times very painful book, but one that is ultimately consoling. -- The Belfast Telegraph [Mockett] sweeps away some of the stereotypes [of the Japanese] as she learns how the country is dealing with its collective grief through stoicism, denial, spiritual belief, and even humour. -- New Internationalist Mockettt's book is a moving and lyrically written account of her physical and emotional journey to a side of Japan few of us are privileged enough ever to see. -- Literary Review

An intriguing ... travelogue through a landscape of Japanese spiritual belief, with forays into history, folklore, and memoir. [Mockett] has the ability, fully available only to those on the margins, to see through more than one set of eyes, if one learns to pay attention to one's environment. It is this gift of double-sightedness, of bringing to bear both the dry rationality of the West and the sticky sensibilities professed by the Japanese, that makes this the most interesting book so far to have come out of the disaster. -- Richard Lloyd Parry - New York Times Book Review A fascinating, wide-reaching exploration. -- San Francisco Chronicle Affecting ... effectively evokes the beauty of Japanese culture and the sorrow that swept the country in the tsunami's wake. -- San Jose Mercury News Mockett skillfully knits together a portrait of loss and recovery, pulling together many individuals' experience of grief into a collective search for peace. -- Minneapolis Star Tribune An illuminating journey into grief and Japanese culture, a place that few would dare to venture. -- The Japan Times Marie Mockett brought me into the high drama of the tsunami, through her most personal landscape, and into the awe of the eternal. -- Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Devil's Highway This illuminating journey through loss, faith, and perseverance ... gives the reader a rare view into one of the richest death cultures in the world. -- Library Journal, Starred review Richly layered in culture and insight, Mockett takes us on a compelling and illuminating journey of the heart and soul. -- Gail Tsukiyama, author of A Hundred Flowers A beautiful tale that is part evocative travelogue and part lyrical meditation on grief, this soulful and haunting book made me cry in a way I like to cry when reading a good book. -- Heidi W. Durrow, New York Times best-selling author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky What a remarkable and moving book about traveling from one land to another, and learning different ways of coming to terms with death amid life. Engrossing and powerful, it speaks volumes about the many ways people grieve and live. -- Will Schwalbe, author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club

[Mockett] has written an odd, revealing and at times very painful book, but one that is ultimately consoling. -- The Belfast Telegraph

Author Information

Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s novel Picking Bones from Ash was shortlisted for the 2010 Saroyan Prize and the Asian American Literary Awards for Fiction and was a finalist for the Paterson Prize. She has written for the New York Times, Salon, National Geographic, and other publications. She lives in San Francisco.

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