Speaker: Frederik Schodt, author of Manga! Manga!; Dreamland Japan, ... Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, 19 March 2006, author/translator/interpreter Frederik L. Schodt will give a presentation entitled "The Real Ranald MacDonald" based on Schodt's latest book, Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2003). Frederik Schodt is perhaps best known to patrons of Good Day Books as the author of Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics (Kodansha International, 1983), which helped to trigger the current manga boom in the United States, and its sequel Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (Stone Bridge Press, 1996). He has also been a pioneer in the translation of manga into English, having translated such classic manga as Astro Boy and Ghost in the Shell. All of which suggests at least two questions: how did manga maven Schodt come to write about an obscure real character like Ranald MacDonald; and who was Ranald MacDonald, anyway? The author of this short sketch of Frederik Schodt (Fred) and Fred's involvement with Ranald MacDonald (Ranald) first stumbled across a reference to Ranald in the dedication ("To Ranald MacDonald, in whose spirit are the seeds of the story") of Michael Lewis's shortest book, Pacific Rift: Why Americans and Japanese Don't Understand Each Other. (Michael Lewis is best known as the author of Liar's Poker, an irreverent account of Lewis's rise through the ranks at Saloman Brothers investment bank in the 1980s.) In the first chapter of Pacific Rift, Lewis wittily encapsulates Ranald and Ranald's involvement with Japan in less than a page. The impact of Lewis's witty summary is far different from the impact of Lewis's inspiring dedication. What is there about Ranald and Ranald's involvement with Japan that would "grab" writers as diverse as Fred and Michael Lewis? Fortunately for us, Fred "writes to the rescue" in the last chapter of Native American in the Land of the Shogun, succinctly articulating why Ranald and Ranald's involvement with Japan should be much better known and wielding words to effect comparable to that achieved by Lewis in his dedication: Early last year, just when Good Day Books was having difficulty obtaining copies of Dreamland Japan from its U.S. wholesaler, Fred happened to give a presentation on manga at Temple University Japan. I attended Fred's TUJ presentation to learn whether I could obtain a few copies of Dreamland Japan directly from him (I could and did) and also to evaluate Fred as a potential BOOKNOTES speaker. (Fred impressed me not only as a knowledgeable and practiced public speaker, but also as one comfortable interacting with members of his audience.) In the course of preparing myself for Fred's TUJ presentation (I prepare at least one intelligent question for each presentation I attend), I stumbled across yet another dedication to Ranald, this one in Fred's shortest book, America and the Four Japans: Friend, Foe, Mirror, Model (Stone Bridge Press, 1994), which suggested yet another question: how long has Fred been interested in Ranald? In the Introduction to Native American in the Land of the Shogun, Fred again "writes to the rescue": "Every book I have written has been a personal odyssey of sorts, but this one has been the longest of all, requiring twelve years from conception to completion." Your ticket for admission to Frederik Schodt's presentation "The Real Ranald MacDonald" will be a copy of Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan purchased from our shop. Paperback copies of Native American in the Land of the Shogun may be purchased at Good Day Books for three thousand one hundred forty five yen („3145) each, tax included, while our supply lasts. |
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