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Yoko Tawada, Yoko Tawada, Margaret Mitsutani: Scattered All Over the Earth (2022, Norton & Company Limited, W. W.) 4 stars

Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is …

Uniquely strange and captivating

3 stars

Tawada is a writer unlike any other I've encountered. I really enjoyed the narrative shifts throughout the book, and how each character brings a new perspective to the events that unfold among the group. As a lover of language, I particularly enjoyed the author's linguistic wordplay and musings on the relationship between language and identity. In the end, friendship trumps dystopia. It's oddly sweet and wholesome, despite it all.