A Man
by Keiichiro Hirano
translated by Eli K.P. William
Akira Kido is a divorce attorney whose own marriage is in danger of being destroyed by emotional disconnect. With a midlife crisis looming, Kido’s life is upended by the reemergence of a former client, Rié Takemoto. She wants Kido to investigate a dead man—her recently deceased husband, Daisuké. Upon his death she discovered that he’d been living a lie. His name, his past, his entire identity belonged to someone else, a total stranger. The investigation draws Kido into two intriguing mysteries: finding out who Rié’s husband really was and discovering more about the man he pretended to be. Soon, with each new revelation, Kido will come to share the obsession with—and the lure of—erasing one life to create a new one.
In A Man, winner of Japan’s prestigious Yomiuri Prize for Literature, Keiichiro Hirano explores the search for identity, the ambiguity of memory, the legacies with which we live and die, and the reconciliation of who you hoped to be with who you’ve actually become.
Praise For A Man
“Hirano’s English-language debut, a shape-shifting psychological thriller… As back-alley gritty and entertaining as a Raymond Chandler novel, the book asks what it means to be ‘you,’ and suggests that the answer means nothing at all. Hirano’s stylish, suspenseful noir should earn him a stateside audience.
—Publishers Weekly
“As an added bonus to the sympathetic characters and a well-constructed narrative is the detailed exploration of the complexities of the Japanese family registration system that made deception possible.”
—Japan Times
“A Man, beautifully translated by Eli K.P. William, can stand proudly on its own two feet as an excellent, meditative work.”
—Asymptote Journal
“What sort of novel is A Man? Hirano dangles a number of possibilities before the reader, from existential thriller to full-on spy novel. That a novel that deals so thoroughly with the ambiguities of identity should have its own identity be in question is utterly fitting. Did I mention it’s also a gripping read?”
—Words Without Borders
“Canadian writer Eli K. P. William, who has lived in Japan for more than a decade, deftly captures the subtle emotional nuances characteristic of the Japanese language… A Man is an insightful primer for readers interested in knowing more about Japanese culture and social issues.”
—The Straits Times
About The Translator
Eli K.P. William is the author of The Jubilee Cycle trilogy (Skyhorse Publishing), a science fiction trilogy set in a dystopian future Tokyo. He also translates Japanese literature, including the bestselling novel A Man (Crossing) by Keiichiro Hirano. His translations, essays, and short stories have appeared in such publications as Granta, The Southern Review, Monkey, and The Malahat Review.
More about Eli here.
Follow him on X: @Dice_Carver