Kaoru Takamura Lady Joker: Volume 1 : The Million Copy Bestselling 'Masterpiece

THE JAPANESE CRIME CLASSIC ONE MILLION COPIES SOLDOne of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the mustread books of this or any year David PeaceTokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of postWar Japan a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his ethnicity a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who died in suspicious circumstances. Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist kidnap the CEO of Japans largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the companys corrupt financiers. Inspired by the unsolved truecrime kidnapping case perpetrated by "the Monster with 21 Faces," Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japans literary masters. A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory PoliceTakamuras prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist... | Kaoru Takamura Lady Joker: Volume 1 : The Million Copy Bestselling 'Masterpiece