Anime Encyclopedia reviewed on Comicsnob.com

Comicsnob.com is now an official fan of The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised and Expanded Edition, by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements.

"Yes, there are people geekier than you. We keep blogs, with manga reviews. But even geekier than me, there are the brave souls who have compiled the Anime Encyclopedia," writes Matt Blind in a review of the massive reference title. "It is very much like reading the opinion of another fan, only without the whole spam-laden internet forum filter to wade through."

A review of the new Anime Encyclopedia also ran in the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun last weekend, but it isn't yet posted online.

Anime Encyclopedia in Midnight Eye

Midnight Eye, the definitive website on Japanese film, just published an in-depth review of The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised and Expanded Edition, by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements. Read the whole review here, and please enjoy this excerpt!

If the original Anime Encyclopedia already represented a stunning casebook of otaku obsessiveness, then this goes doubly so for the update...Very impressive.

One notable improvement over the first edition in this respect is the inclusion of individual entries for directors and studios, as well as 'Thematic Entries', which do a good job of situating the included titles within a wider context. 'Argot and Jargon' for example, should clear up any mysteries and misconceptions about the derivations of terms used by the otaku community like 'dojinshi', 'gekiga', 'mecha' and 'moe'. 'Ratings and Box Office' also answers a lot of very useful questions about anime's actual standing in its own country, while 'Puppetry and Stop Motion', as with the entries for directors...shows that anime is not all doe-eyed virgins and robots, and should help broaden further discussions about what the field actually is beyond the narrow framework through which it is usually approached.

Robotech preview at A.P.E this weekend!

Stone Bridge Press will be at the Alternative Press Expo this weekend in San Francisco, at Booth 427. But they will not be alone. Along with prize drawings, glossy promo cards, and the usual impressive array of
books illuminating Asian culture, get ready to meet a very special guest:

A PREVIEW OF THE NEW ROBOTECH BOOK! That's right, a complete version of the gorgeous, informative, forthcoming The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles will be on-hand for all your oooing and ahhing needs.

See you there!

Anime Encyclopedia authors in London and Dallas

Library Journal called The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised and Expanded Edition, by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements, "the most comprehensive source on the subject available."

Now's your chance to see these remarkable authors in person, and to get your copy signed, at Farringdons bookstore at the Barbican Centre, London, England, from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24th!

Also, Helen McCarthy, whose series of events at the Barbican exploring connections between anime and Western cinema has been selling out consistently, will be delivering similar talks in Texas in June for A-Kon. See you there!!

Haiku Apprentice and Japan Journals in the Pacific Rim Review of Books

The beautiful Spring 2007 issue of the Canadian literary periodical Pacific Rim Review of Books includes in-depth reviews of both The Haiku Apprentice by Abigail Friedman and The Japan Journals by Donald Richie. The magazine can be purchased online from the Review. Here are some brief excerpts:

A fascinating commentary on the assumptions we make on a daily basis -- not just about haiku but about life itself...an unexpected treat. -Apis Teicher on The Haiku Apprentice

While Richie introduced Japanese cinema to the West, his journals offer us a privileged glimpse into a host of the memorable Japanese characters he has known or worked with in Tokyo...
-Trevor Carolan on The Japan Journals

Abigail Friedman at Toadstool Books, April 28th

Abigail Friedman, author of The Haiku Apprentice, will be appearing for a reading and book signing at Toadstool Books in Peterborough, New Hampshire on April 28th. The writer Julia Older will also appear. Books will be for sale at the store. Don't miss this special opportunity to hear from Abigail herself about her adventures in a Japanese haiku group!

April 28th
2 p.m.
The Toadstool Bookshop
12 Depot Sq., Peterborough, NH 03458
603-924-3543
Please check this website for updates!

In the Pool in Japanzine

In Japanzine, Zack Davisson reviews Hideo Okuda's comic masterpiece In the Pool. Here's an excerpt from the great review:

After the first few pages the reader is pitched head-first into a bizarre, perverse and addicting world, at the center of which is Dr. Irabu, a fat, pasty middle-aged man who gets sexual pleasure from watching injections. He's a fantastically weird character who seems in need of more than a little psychological help himself. This is clearly a case of the inmates running the asylum.

Asia Shock at The Thunder Child

The Thunder Child, a Sciene Fiction and Fantasy Web magazine, recently reviewed Patrick Galloway's Asia Shock: Horror and Dark Cinema from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand, remarking that it "is a very well-written primer for the fan who is fascinated with extreme Asian Cinema but doesn’t know where to start."

The Haiku Apprentice in Modern Haiku and the WaterBridge Review

April is National Poetry Month, and there is no better way to celebrate than to read Abigail Friedman's The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan, a June 2006 Book Sense Pick and a recent Finalist for the Kiriyama Prize. Two new reviews highlight different aspects of this remarkable exploration of haiku as a down-to-earth life path:

Imagine picking up yet another learning-to-write-haiku book and quickly discovering it is a page-turner...Friedman keenly felt the contrast between writing haiku and foreignservice dispatches. In haiku she discovered she had to cultivate an awareness of meaning beyond the words...she learned to deal with the personal dimension in haiku.
-Joseph Kirschner in modern HAIKU

The spirit of warmth and common purpose she experiences in that first encounter with the group of 30 or so Japanese men and women immediately engages [Friedman]. The memoir that follows, while not a how-to book in the typical mold, offers so graceful an entry into the pleasures of experiencing haiku it will surely inspire readers interested in trying their own hands at the evocative form.
-Bridget Boylan in the WaterBridge Review
(This issue of the WaterBridge Review features reviews of the2007 Kiriyama Finalist books.)

Ash Reviewed at Reader Views

At Reader Views, Deborah Gaynor looks at Holly Thompson's novel Ash. Gaynor finds the book to be "hauntingly beautiful and well worth reading." Why? Because it is "a heart-wrenching story. The characters are well-developed and powerful. [They] linger in your mind long after finishing the book." We couldn't agree more!

Eve Kushner in The Monthly

Eve Kushner, whose amazing new book, Crazy for Kanji: A Student’s Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters, will be out this July from Stone Bridge Press, has an equally fascinating essay in this month's edition of The Monthly. In "The Way of Kanji," Kushner exlpores the ancient Japanese script as a spiritual path. The Monthly is available in many East Bay locations, and Kushner's article will be online shortly.

Asia Shock Event Reviewed in The Asian Reporter

Mike Street, who recently reviewed Patrick Galloway's unstoppable guidebook to dark Asian cinema, Asia Shock: Horror and Dark Cinema from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, & Thailand, for The Asian Reporter, was luckly enuogh to be at Galloway's reading, screening, and book signing at legendary Powell's City of Books in Portland. The full review of the event is online here, and below is a sneak preview:

Although a casual observer might have wondered what bloody maniac was reading at Powell’s, those who attended saw what has made Patrick Galloway’s books so popular and enjoyable. A mixture of knowledge, humor, and eviscerating honesty, Galloway’s presentation gave Asian horror-film fans all they wanted, and more — the same way the films they love do.