Coming Attractions
26 November 2006

In an extremely rare public appearance, Donald Keene, esteemed scholar of Japanese literature and culture, will portray the social and intellectual milieus of the late Tokugawa period by talking on Watanabe Kazan, one of the last great painters of that age.
To attend, please buy a copy of his book Frog in the Well. Seating is limited.

Frog in the Well by Donald Keene

Past Events
22 October 2006

Takeshi Nakagawa, author of The Japanese House, spoke on the social consequences of the evolution of Japanese architecture. Professor Nakagawa talked in English, with the translation of the lively question and answer session masterfully handled by Brian Miller.  The translator of the book, Geraldine Harcourt, also attended. Professor Nakagawa and Brian Miller are pictured below. 

BOOKCLUBS

The Next Attack by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon will be discussed on 19 November. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote will be discussed by the non-native speakers’ group on 5 November.

Conan the Librarian says:

Congratulations newsletter readers!  We have been meeting for a year now.  Thanks for sticking with us.  As former U.S. vice-president Dan Quayle once put it: “I stand by all the misstatements.”

Recently a customer traded a book with a title to make a humorist snicker: “The Unabridged Mark Twain [Abridged]".

Strangest title encountered this month: Speak Well English: An Guide for Aliens to Successful Intercourse in the Correctly English Mode.

Strangest greeting this month: “I don’t want to spend a cent in your shop.”

What’s my favorite book? It’s a tough question, but I guess it’s my bank book.

“There are no windows at the back of your store,” he observed.
“Books are windows,” I responded.

Summer Wistfulness: After using the toilet and cooling down in the air-conditioning, she declared: “You need customers. I’ll be your customer.” I wanted to thank her, but she was already gone, off to help someone else.  We haven’t seen her since.