Crawling at Night - Softcover

Power, Nani

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099286734 ISBN 13: 9780099286738

Publisher: Vintage, 2002

Synopsis

Newly arrived in New York, Ito is a literate yet tongue-tied sushi chef who recites haiku in his head as he labours over restaurant shopping-lists. Alone in his apartment at night, he reads pornographic comics, dreaming of Mariane, a lost, alcoholic waitress who works with him at a Chelsea sushi bar. Across town, Mariane lies in her bath with a drink in her hand, longing for the baby girl she abandoned almost fifteen years before. As Ito and Mariane attempt to make sense of their lives and their memories, they encounter immigrants from across the entire world, each of them bringing their very varied cuisines, histories and expectations to new lives in the New World. Crawling at Night brilliantly reveals the cityscape of today's global city and makes visible the people often condemned to its shadows: in the late night Chinatown clubs; in the downtown restaurants after the CLOSED sign goes up; and behind the closed doors of the studio apartments in Manhattan's high-rises and walk ups.

About this title

About the Author:

Nani Power grew up in Virginia and was educated in the US and in France. She has worked in catering in Brazil and as a sushi chef in New York, and is now working on her second novel.

From Publishers Weekly:

The two protagonists of debut novelist Powers's compelling tale of urban despair are by turns hopeless, deluded and self-destructive, but their misguided stumblings are transformed by the charged prose and headlong pace of Power's skillful narrative. Ito is a Japanese sushi chef, recently arrived in New York City, haunted by his past. Mariane, an alcoholic waitress in her 30s who longs for the baby daughter she left behind in Virginia, exudes a frail, broken beauty that captivates Ito. There is something in her that reminds him of Xiu-Xiu, the prostitute he frequented in Japan while his wife, Tomoko, slowly wasted away from cancer, a loss soon compounded by another, violent death. These two virtual strangers scramble for salvation over the course of two nights in downtown, down-and-out Manhattan. When Mariane is fired, Ito leaps at the opportunity to be her savior: he vows he will help her reclaim her baby, her sobriety and her dignity. Their stunted blossom of intimacy is all awkward fits and starts, revelation and self-preservation the delicate yet harsh experience of the emotionally wounded and fiercely, desperately lonely. Borrowing tricks from Virginia Woolf, Powers weaves her narrative through raw present and bittersweet flashbacks, making forays into the minds of supporting characters and walk-ons; she manages to blend literary, experimental and straightforward writing to brilliant, heartbreaking effect. Her starkly realistic characters and terse, lyrical prose herald her as an exciting new voice and she should captivate a wide range of readers. (Apr.)Forecast: The publisher is putting a good deal of enthusiasm into this release, with a first printing of 50,000 and a 16-city author tour. Some good reviews and word-of-mouth and the author's own varied background, including a stint as a sushi chef could go a long way toward building sales. The cover photo of a near-naked young woman won't hurt the book one bit.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0099286734
• ISBN 13: 9780099286738
• Binding: Paperback