"Now Japan is a very small, flat, unified world. Everything is very small and very much the same. There are no Others. It tends to be relaxing but it can also be dull. You can't meet with the New or the Strange." Ryu Murakami's words might seem bleak to a Western audience. But to better understan

Anxiety, Dark, Dreamy, Eclectic, Lyrical, Postmodern fiction, Sexy

Stockton, California, is generally known for producing seed hybrids, not literary ones. But that all changed in 1940, when the town saw the birth of author Maxine Hong Kingston. Stockton would remain the same, but Asian American literature would be changed forever. Kingston was the third of eig

Bright, Eclectic, Lyrical, Overflowing, Sensual, Women's literature

"M. Butterfly" is the ostensibly true story of a French diplomat who carries on a 17-year affair with a bewitching Chinese opera star, only to discover that she is not only a spy, but also a man. The play, rooted in a tabloid headline and realized in a retelling of Puccini's famous "Madam Butterfly,"

Eclectic, Epic, Layered, Off-broadway, Political

Few journalists have endeavored to crawl inside their subjects like Tom Wolfe. By applying the techniques, forms, and comic flare of fiction to the practice of reportage, he essentially created a new genre of writing. He gets inside people's heads, documenting almost every strange alcove of American

Eclectic, Egalitarian, Funny, Neo-ironic, New journalism & gonzo, Pioneering, Pop