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More copies of this ISBN:Sayonara Barby Susan Barker
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The modern geisha-girl scene is explored in this edgy, commercial literary novel set in a hostess bar in Osaka. Mary, a blond graduate from England, has drifted into a job in a hostess lounge in Osaka. She and other economy geishas are employed by the enigmatic Mama-san to spend their evenings flirting with rich Japanese salarymen, playing drinking games and taking turns in the karaoke booth. Mary is in love with Yuji, Mama-san's handsome son. But Yuji's loyalty is to the petty Yakuza gangster for whom he works. Watanabe, the introverted cook, watches Mary from the Sayonara's kitchen. He exists in his own manga-fuelled fantasy of the fourth dimension, but when he perceives the danger of Mary's growing obsession with Yuji, he resolves to protect her whatever the cost. Mr. Sato works for the Daiwa Trading Corporation. Obsessive overwork cannot cover the emptiness of his solitary life. Lured against his will to the Sayonara Bar by his boss, he finds himself returning there to escape his dead wife's ghost. Sly and often very funny, Sayonara Bar spins a kaleidoscopic, genre-crossing tale of people cut adrift in a shrinking, globalized world. Review:"British author Barker's piquant debut chronicles the life of Mary, a young Englishwoman working as a hostess at the Sayonara Bar in Osaka, Japan. Though not a prostitute, Mary is paid an hourly wage to flirt and converse with the bar's customers, primarily middle-aged Japanese businessmen. Her colleagues include Katya, a Ukrainian hostess, and Watanabe, the Sayonara's cook, who keeps a watchful eye over Mary and believes that he's an 'intermediary between the third and fourth dimension.' Barker precisely draws her characters, emphasizing their innermost thoughts and desires. Mr. Sato, a widower, has vivid dreams about his deceased wife even as he's attracted to Mariko, a bar hostess who claims to be conversing with his ghostly wife. As the tension builds among the characters, Yuji, Mary's boyfriend, is caught stealing from his boss. An enigmatic yet riveting climax brings this highly unusual view of Japanese society to a fitting close." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:At the center of the story is, Mary, a graduate student from England who has taken a job at a hostess lounge in Osaka, Japan, so that she can earn money to travel the globe. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with Yuji, Mama-san’s son, who has an uneasy alliance with the Yakuza. Watanabe, a somewhat diffident cook, who works at the Sayonara Bar, has also taken an interest in Mary, and supposedly he can see into a fourth dimension, a manga-infused dimension which allows to see danger before it happens. And then there is Mr. Sato who has become a regular at Sayonara Bar, as he tries to escape his wife’s ghost. When Yuji crosses the Yakuza, it has dire consequences for them all, and their lives become irrevocably intertwined in this wonderfully imagined debut novel. About the AuthorSusan Barker was born in 1978. She graduated from Leeds University and taught English in Japan for two years before returning to the U.K. She lives in East London. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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