Description: Set My Heart on Fire by Izumi Suzuki, Helen O'Horan The first novel from Izumi Suzuki to be published in English: a candid, intimate exploration of passion, music and transgression FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A young woman named Izumi, details her turbulent twenties in thirteen disarmingly candid vignettes, set in the underground bar and club scene of 1970s Tokyo.Seamlessly delivering ennui alongside snark, and tragedy nose-to-nose with apathy, Set My Heart on Fire is singular representation of young womanhood, missteps and miscommunication, and music, men and meds. With chapters titled for tracks by The Zombie, The Supremes and the Rolling Stones, as well as songs by underground Japanese bands of the time, the music of the 1960s and 1970s permeates the story.There are distinct traces of the fraught tenderness in Marguerite Duras The Lover, and the raw, decadent post-war generational dissolution of Ryu Murakamis Almost Transparent Blue. But Suzukis novel is carried by her own singular charm and wit, which will be readily recognised and adored by readers of her short stories. Author Biography Izumi Suzuki (1949–1986) was a countercultural icon and a pioneer of Japanese science fiction. She worked as a keypunch operator before finding fame as a model and actress, but it was her writing that secured her reputation. She took her own life at the age of thirty-six. Review This Tokyo rock novel, first published in Japan in 1983 and here translated by Helen OHoran, follows a young woman through a world of drugs, music and highly conditional relationships in which the cool kids are emphatically not all right. Suzuki (who died in 1986) is better known as a science fiction writer, for good reason, but Set My Heart on Fire shows her to be a keen observer of the rock n roll milieu. -- New York TimesSuzukis unique sensibility, which combined a punk aesthetic with a taste for the absurd. Her work-populated by misfits, loners, and femmes fatales alongside extraterrestrial boyfriends, intergalactic animal traffickers, and murderous teen-agers with E.S.P.-wryly blurs the boundary between earthly delinquency and otherworldly phenomena. * New Yorker *Suzukis distinctly misanthropic voice enlivens these narratives of women whose mundane lives are altered - sometimes humorously, sometimes catastrophically * Washington Post *Suzukis tabloid biography is far from the most interesting thing about her. Underneath the troubled "It girl" is an even more troubled and thrillingly ambivalent writer -- Maria Dimitrova * Daily Telegraph *The work and messages of Ursula K. Le Guin, the authors longer-lived contemporary, come to mind. Both Suzuki and Le Guin knew that gender roles are a matter of costume or control, affect or affliction. The terms we use to define humanity are often inhuman -- Catherine Lacey * New York Times *Wild and restless ... I cant think of anyone Id rather read than this countercultural icon of the Japanese literary underground. * Frieze *Suzukis full-length Set My Heart on Fire takes place in the counterculture of 1970s Tokyo, full of rock and roll, drugs, and transgression. Its a world Suzuki knew intimately: the punk icon was deep in alternative music and film scenes during her short but brilliant life. If you like the bang and crash of loud music, and the passion and desire it inspires, you dont want to miss Suzukis writing. -- James Folta * Lit Hub; Most Anticipated Books of 2024 *This is a novel about rock and roll and the obsession it inspires, set mostly in the quiet, late-night spaces where young people define their world through music....This novel is short and engrossing, and a great addition and counterpoint to Suzukis short stories that Verso has already put out. While this novel doesnt have any of the speculative sci-fi elements of her stories, Set My Heart on Fire has the same dreamy, almost dazed tone. -- Emily Temple * Lit Hub *Suzuki blazes new emotional territory in this semi-autobiographical, instant cult classic.Viscerally translated by Helen OHoran, Set My Heart on Fire follows its narrator, also named Izumi, through Tokyos 1970s underground psychedelic-rock scene.A captivating example of Izumi Suzukis virtuosic control of language and insight into the heart of gendered power dynamics. * Shelf Awareness *An intimate, candid portrait of a 20-something woman navigating the tumultuous world of music, partying, and relationships in 1970s Japan..Vivid and unflinching. * Kirkus Reviews *Gritty, sexy, and wholly rock n roll, Suzukis first novel translated into English follows 20-year-old Izumi navigating life, love, and music in the underground scene in 70s Japan. * The Millions *Best known for her short science fiction, Izumi Suzukis posthumous novel is a unique and thrilling tale of life and music in Japans 1970s demimonde. -- Nick Mamatas * The Fabulist *As vivid and visceral as the rock and roll culture it describes * AnOther Magazine *Izumi Suzuki innovatively encapsulates modern anxieties which are born of the standards of yesterday, and which overbearingly coddle the possibilities of tomorrow. -- Maria Farsoon * The Skinny *This visceral novel transports readers to a very specific time and place, showcasing unusual romances. -- Best Books of 2024 * Radio Times *This latest slim volume has all the feminist filth and fuckery that Ive come to love about Suzukis style. -- Karla J. Strand * Ms. Magazine *Told in her signature elliptic, sometimes abrasive style, which tends to leave much unsaid ... though Izumis narrative is ultimately mournful, her tragic but tender love story is lifted by Suzukis wry, rebellious spirit. -- Miriam Balanescu * i paper *An electric time capsule ... [Set My Heart On Fire] seems to be an attempt at freezing time right in the moments of wanting -- Thu-Huong Ha * Japan Times *A remarkable quest for love and agency in a world that seems to dictate that achieving the former requires a woman to surrender the latter -- Nirmala Devi * ArtReview Asia *There is a knowing ennui to the writing, which taps into the disillusionment of 1980s youth culture a la Bret Easton Ellis -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail *Set My Heart on Fire is a novel of lost youth, self-destruction, and the resignation that shadows nonconformity. A failing economy, a falling fervor, a futile future-what is there to do but take things as they come?... Suzuki expresses this helplessness with clarity and lucidity, and OHorans translation carries a matter-of-factness that only hints at the desperation and indignation coursing beneath. * Asymptote Journal *Set My Heart on Fire is what would happen if Joan Didion wrote a tell-all memoir about her alternative, fictional life as a groupie...Even if it was written in the mid-80s, Set My Heart On Fire was undoubtedly ahead of its time. The ending offers an unsettling vision of womens liberation in the era of globalization, mass media, and cultural exchange. The novel asks difficult questions about western values, sexual abuse, and the role that technology plays in advancing or stifling patriarchal systems. -- Max Gray * Chicago Review of Books *Set My Heart on Fire is a captivating example of Izumi Suzukis virtuosic control of language and insight into the heart of gendered power dynamics. -- Shelf AwarenessThe models long-awaited debut novel ... Set My Heart on Fire follows a young woman named Izumi who makes her way through Tokyos underground bar and club scene in her 20s, not unlike Suzuki herself, who worked as a model and actress during the same era. Chapter titles named after songs by The Zombie, The Supremes, and the Rolling Stones, as well as post-war ennui help cement these 13 tender and candid vignettes in the time. * Book Riot *The tone of Suzukis work can feel startlingly contemporary, but it is the texture of her prose that stands out most. Helen OHorans meticulous translation highlights both the beauty and violence in her chilly, sparse language -- Porochista Khakpour * The Washington Post *This sparse, intriguing novel follows its narrator through 1970s Tokyo as she navigates her twenties. Written in a series of vignettes about love, regret and music, this is the first novel by the Japanese writer to be translated into English. -- Kaia Gerber * People Magazine * Promotional The long-awaited publication of Izumi Suzukis debut novel Details ISBN180429330X Author Helen OHoran Publisher Verso Books Year 2024 ISBN-13 9781804293300 Format Paperback Publication Date 2024-11-12 Imprint Verso Books Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Translated from Japanese UK Release Date 2024-11-12 Audience General Pages 192 ISBN-10 180429330X Language English DEWEY 895.635 Translator Helen OHoran AU Release Date 2025-03-31 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:168417061;
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Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9781804293300
Author: Izumi Suzuki, Helen O'Horan
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Book Title: Set My Heart on Fire
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