"Kenny Fries writes out of the pure hot emergency of a mortal being trying to keep himself alive. So much is at stake here—health, affection, culture, trauma, language—but its greatest surprise is what thrives in the midst of suffering. A beautiful book."—Paul Lisicky, author of The Narrow Door
"Like the best memoirs, it reminds us of the genre's twinned truths: first, that the surest way to discover the self is to look out at the world, and second, that the best way to teach others about something is to tell them not 'what it is,' but what it means to you. Fries's deft, questioning prose is as full of compassion as curiosity, and his revelations about himself are no less compelling than what he learns about Japan."—Dale Peck, author of Visions and Revisions: Coming of Age in the Age of AIDS
"Deeply moving and exquisitely written about many things—cultural and physical difference, sexuality, love, loss, mortality, and the ephemeral nature of beauty and art—and a love letter to Japan."—Mira Bartók, author of The Memory Palace