“So powerful! So vulgar! So sublime! So incredible!”

July 23, 2023 4:55 PM

That Old Seaside Club is a short story by Japanese SF writer Izumi Suzuki, who died in 1986 at the age of 36. As Amanda Demarco explains, her much mythologized life has threatened to overshadow her work, which has only just started appearing in English translation. Genie Harrison writes about the discovery of Suzuki by English-language readers, and so far two short story collections have been published, Terminal Boredom, reviewed by Lee Mandelo for Tor.com, and Hit Parade of Tears, reviewed by Stephanie LaCava for the Daily Telegraph [archive link]. Both books are available from the publisher, Verso Books.
posted by Kattullus (4 comments total)

That was an almost painful read... Partly because of the knowledge that she died when she was 36, and also because, at age 41, it hit quite close to home.
posted by destrius at 2:52 AM on July 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah, That Old Seaside Club transported me almost physically to some very bad patches of my life.
posted by Kattullus at 6:28 AM on July 24, 2023

What a poignant read.
posted by brainwane at 7:58 AM on July 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

"Truly great people emit a light that warms the hearts of those around them. When that light has been put out, a heavy shadow of despair descends."

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen
posted by clavdivs at 2:43 PM on July 24, 2023 [1 favorite]