About the Book: Jackson Alone: From the winner of the Akutagawa Prize
A short, blistering gut punch of a novel, Jackson Alone is at turns satirical
and deadpan, angry and tender-a frank exploration of identity, race, and
queerness in contemporary Japan.
Nobody at the corporate offices of Athletius Japan knows much about the massage
therapist, Jackson, but rumours abound. He used to work as a model. He likes to
party. Hes mixed race: half-Japanese, half-somewhere-in-Africa-n. He might be
gay. Fuelling the gossip is the sudden appearance of a violent, pornographic
video featuring a man who looks like a lot like Jackson.
When