Beautiful Star

Mishima is the Japanese Hemingway * Life Magazine *
Strikingly different... Stephen Dodd's translation captures Mishima's dark humour, succinct style and dry wit -- Vanora Bennett * The Times Literary Supplement *
A brilliant black comedy following the Osugi family, who come to the understanding that they are each from a different planet. This new knowledge strengthens their bond while solidifying a mission: to seek others of their kind and save humanity from the looming threat of the atomic bomb. This is an insightful, moving read. Mishima deserves a wider readership -- Irenosen Okojie * The i *
Set in the early 1960s, this bonkers story of aliens trying to save mankind from nuclear war is told from the perspective of one family, all of whom come from a different planet. It's a biting social satire that's utterly transporting * Sunday Times Best Books for Summer 2023 *
Ordinary people harbour the grandest (and most terrible) thoughts in a cosmological fable as disconcerting as it is funny: behind the simplest actions lie visions of worlds in collision -- Simon Ings * The Times *
The Oscar Wilde of Japan ... one of Japan's great novelists ... his subtlety, warmth and wit shine through * Telegraph *
A mixture of humour, high literary seriousness and flying saucers ... remarkable -- Sam Leith * Spectator *
A writer of immense energy and ability * Time Out *
One of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century * New Yorker *
Among Japan's most celebrated post-war authors * Little White Lies *
Interplanetary, quite extraordinary ... a fusion of sci-fi and social satire with great pathos, awash with dark humour and scenes of intense beauty ... Mishima blends the sublime and ridiculous in provocative and surprising ways ... a fresh and limpid translation -- Bryan Karetnyk * Financial Times *
Moves from vividly described scenes of ordinary human life and the beauties of the natural world to arguments about human nature and whether peace is possible this side of death -- Lisa Tuttle * Guardian Best Recent Science Fiction *
Its humour may be the book's most brilliant trait ... intense and earnest, the novel contains plenty of Mishima's spectacular writing ... an impressive accomplishment by Dodd in conveying a sense of import, sophistication and mastery of prose -- Eric Margolis * Japan Times *
A delightfully strange, absorbing work. Full of humour and insight. Highly recommended -- Irenosen Okojie
The wunderkind of the Japanese literary world ... an extraordinary literary talent * The Times Literary Supplement *