The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520241824)

In the 1920s, Asakusa was to Tokyo what Montmartre had been to 1890s Paris and Times Square was to be to 1940s New York. Available in English for the first time, The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa, by Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata, captures the decadent allure of this entertainment district, where beggars and teenage prostitutes mixed with revue dancers and famous authors. Originally serialized in a Tokyo daily newspaper in 1929 and 1930, this vibrant novel uses unorthodox, kinetic literary techniques to reflect the raw energy of Asakusa, seen through the eyes of a wandering narrator and the cast of mostly female juvenile delinquents who show him their way of life. Markedly different from Kawabata's later work, The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa shows this important writer in a new light. The annotated edition of this little-known literary gem includes the original illustrations by Ota Saburo. The annotations illuminate Tokyo society and Japanese literature, bringing this fascinating piece of Japanese modernism at last to a wide audience.

Author: Yasunari Kawabata
ISBN-10: 0520241827
ISBN-13: 9780520241824
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 04/18/2005
Pages: 279
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.60w x 0.65d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 04/15/2005 pg. 73
New York Review of Books 06/23/2005 pg. 12
Ingram Advance 04/01/2005 pg. 75