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Naomi
Contributor(s): Tanizaki, Junichiro (Author)
ISBN: 0375724745     ISBN-13: 9780375724749
Publisher: Vintage
OUR PRICE:   $16.20  
Product Type: Paperback
Published: April 2001
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Annotation: Na-o-mi. The three syllables of this name, unusual in 1920s Japan, captivate a 28-year-old engineer, who soon becomes infatuated with the girl so named, a teenaged cafe waitress. Drawn to her Eurasian features and innocent demeanor, Joji is eager to whisk young Naomi away from the seamy underbelly of post--World War I Tokyo and to mold her into his ideal wife. But when the two come together to indulge their shared passion for Western culture, Joji discovers that Naomi is far from being the naive girl of his fantasies, and his passion descends into a comically helpless masochism.
A literary masterpiece that helped to establish Junichiro Tanizaki as Japan's greatest novelist, Naomi" is both a hilarious story of one man's obsession and torment, and a brilliant evocation of a nation's cultural confusion.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Literary
- Fiction | Classics
- Fiction | Humorous - General
Dewey: FIC
LCCN: 2014498751
Lexile Measure: 820
Series: Vintage International
Physical Information: 0.56" H x 5.22" W x 8.14" (0.43 lbs) 256 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1920's
- Cultural Region - Japanese
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Junichiro Tanizaki's Naomi is both a hilarious story of one man's obsession and a brilliant reckoning of a nation's cultural confusion.

When twenty-eight-year-old Joji first lays eyes upon the teenage waitress Naomi, he is instantly smitten by her exotic, almost Western appearance. Determined to transform her into the perfect wife and to whisk her away from the seamy underbelly of post-World War I Tokyo, Joji adopts and ultimately marries Naomi, paying for English and music lessons that promise to mold her into his ideal companion. But as she grows older, Joji discovers that Naomi is far from the na ve girl of his fantasies. And, in Tanizaki's masterpiece of lurid obsession, passion quickly descends into comically helpless masochism.