A Well-Kept Life is an emotional rollercoaster ride of science fiction by renowned Japanese author Shinichi Hoshi. A few of these famously "short-short" stories are as sweet and light as meringue; others will stew in the subconscious indefinitely.
Hoshi nimbly reveals the gawky, awkward nature of modern man. He points out that we rarely talk face to face anymore; we've lost our connection to the natural world. Shiny, new technologies and bureaucracies continually promise to alleviate our existential discomfort. Yet, as Hoshi shows, the inventions that comprise A Well-Kept Life don't eliminate the pain. They simply reconfigure it.
Many of Hoshi's stories were written for a multi-age audience. But these are decidedly adult. Never graphic, nor gory, nor vulgar in any way, Hoshi manages to unnerve his readers with the simplest of language and barest of plots. Written between 1960 and 1984, these parables grow increasingly more spot-on with age. A Well-Kept Life is a blast of warning signals for today, a whistle-blower's global call to attention.
Translated by Marina Hoshi and Kim Hines
Foreword by Naoki Urasawa
Cover illustration by Moona Whyte
