Dawn to the West: A History of Japanese Literature

The publication of Dawn to the West... will do even more to establish modern Japanese literature as one of the major literatures of the world... Here, for the first time, in two monumental volumes, are Mr. Keene's readable, yet thoroughly scholarly, essays on virtually all aspects of modern Japan's major creative writing. The first volume of Dawn to the West, which is devoted to fiction, contains complete studies of all the important Japanese writers since the Meiji Restoration in 1868, both those widely read in the West and others less well known. New York Times Book Review