Synopsis
A pulsating psycho-thriller from Ryu Murakami, author of In the Miso Soup
A renaissance man for the postmodern age, Ryu Murakami—a musician, filmmaker (Tokyo Decadence), TV personality, and award-winning author—has gained a cult following in the West. His first novel, Almost Transparent Blue, won Japan’s most coveted literary prize and sold over a million copies, and his most recent psychosexual thriller, In the Miso Soup, gave readers a further taste of his incredibly agile imagination. In Piercing, Murakami, in his own unique style, explores themes of child abuse and what happens to the voiceless among us, weaving a disturbing, spare tale of two people who find each other and then are forced into hurting each other deeply because of the haunting specter of their own abuse as children.
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About the Author
Ryu Murakami, musician, filmmaker, TV talk show host, and novelist, is the author of Almost Transparent Blue, 69, and Coin Locker Babies, which the Washington Post praised as "a knockout . . . a great big pulsating parable."
From Booklist
Kawashima survived a hideously abusive childhood and, as isn't unusual in such cases, bears the scars. Voices in his head, accompanied by garish images, urge him to re-create his stabbing, when a teenager, of the stripper who was his brutal mother. Because "only voices and images from the external world could neutralize those from inside," Kawashima's greatest fear is not of death but of blindness and deafness. When fantasies of stabbing his infant daughter as she sleeps in her crib start to dominate his consciousness, he lies to his unsuspecting wife, takes a hotel room, and meticulously plots to murder an S&M prostitute--who is petite, so he can more easily overcome her. Certainly not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, Piercing blends a cold-blooded true-crime ambience and unexpected, almost antic humor as best-laid plans go horribly awry when an equally scarred (she's a compulsive cutter) abuse survivor turned S&M prostitute enters the action. Oddly and thoroughly compelling as well as chilling, and neither black comedy nor horror, this is a strangely entertaining novel. Whitney Scott
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Piercing
Published by
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, United Kingdom, London, 2007
ISBN 10: 0747582203
ISBN 13: 9780747582205
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Kawashima Masayuki is a successful graphic designer living in Tokyo with his loving wife, Yoko, and their healthy baby girl. Outwardly, their lives are a picture of happiness and contentment. Every night, however, unable to sleep, Kawashima creeps from his bed and watches over the baby's crib while his wife sleeps. But this is no ordinary domestic scene, for on each of those nights, as he stands gazing at his newborn child, Kawashima has an ice-pick in his hand, and an almost visceral desire to use it. One particular night, as this drama unfolds once more, Kawashima makes a decision to confront his demons, and sets into motion an uncontrollable chain of events seeming to lead inexorably to murder The follow up to In the Miso Soup, Piercing confirms Ryu Murakami as the master of the psycho-thriller. Read and be terrified, sickened and utterly gripped. Translated by Ralph McCarthy, translator of In the Miso Soup. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001373740
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PIERCING
Published by
Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom, 2007
ISBN 10: 0747582203
ISBN 13: 9780747582205
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Kelleher Rare Books, Naas, IE, Ireland
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First UK Edition, First Printing. This is the true first edition, first printing (first impression) with a full number line to the copyright page as called for in a near fine jacket which is not price clipped. Near fine to fine unread and unmarked. Translated by Ralph McCarthy. Seller Inventory # 013673
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