About the Author

Kenzaburo Oe was born in 1935 in Ose, a mountain village on Japan's Shikoku Island. He graduated in French literature from Tokyo University and became a full-time writer in 1959. He has won many international literary honors, including the 1989 Prix Europalia and the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Reviews

"Intricate and intriguing...A work of creative philosophy in the Kierkegaardian tradition...A provocative exploration of spiritual emptiness and religious yearning by one of the world's most important authors."