Boundless Deep, and Other Stories

Boundless Deep, and Other Stories is a collection of linked short stories that spans seven decades across Japan and the United States, exploring the tenacity of relationships fractured by language and distance. It follows characters such as a grandmother, a father, and a graduate student, examining their struggles and weighing them down until they can finally float free.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2023
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Boundless Deep, and Other Stories, a 2023 Public Picks selection by Public Books, is a captivating portrayal of a family that remains united in the face of adversity. This collection of interconnected short stories, spanning seven decades across Japan and the United States, showcases the resilience of relationships challenged by language barriers and physical distance.

In the aftermath of her former boss's funeral, a grandmother confronts the enduring impact of the draft letters she wrote as a young girl during World War II. As a father grapples with the prospect of job loss, he transforms into the persona that strangers have always perceived him as. A graduate student residing far from home, burdened by the realities of preserving even a small portion of the world, experiences a gradual erosion of their spirit. Along the journey, we encounter a communist revolutionary, Shigenobu Fusako, hiding out in a Tokyo hotel, a submarine commander and war criminal, Nishina Sekio, plagued by tortured dreams, and Edwin, a half-dolphin companion, causing chaos in a public pool. Crafted in the concise and evocative style of Amy Hempel and Lucia Berlin, these stories delve into the lives of characters whose struggles engulf them, weighing them down from every angle until they find the strength to rise above.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496237453