Kinki Lullaby - the Billy Chaka series

[Mulboyne]

Review of "Kinki Lullaby"

Murder and mayhem mix with surreal dreams, sardonic wit, and ancient puppets in Kinki Lullaby, Isaac Adamson's punk-noir mystery set against the impersonal urbanization and garish lights of modern Japan. It's rather like Lost in Translation meets Raymond Chandler

Isaac Adamson has written "Tokyo Suckerpunch", "Hokkaido Popsicle" and "Dreaming Pachinko" so this is his fourth Billy Chaka book. Anyone read any of them? I think I picked one up in a bookshop and didn't like the look of it (or the price tag was north of 1800 yen). He must be selling a good few copies, though, so I assume he's doing something right. Worth another look? The author quite freely admits he had never been to Japan when he wrote the first book so we are probably not looking for an accurate riff on modern Japan...

[Taro Toporific]

[
Isaac Adamson has written "Tokyo Suckerpunch"....The author quite freely admits he had never been to Japan when he wrote the first book so we are probably not looking for an accurate riff on modern Japan...

I read "Tokyo Suckerpunch".... and felt compelled to write to his editor/publisher that the novel needed some fact-checking. The novel is just fine. I liked it as an "airport read". However, "Suckerpunch"moves along at great speed with panache and then --SLAMMO-- he has a "mama-san" saying something in faux Chinese-like, "chop-chop." Glaring fact errors and cultural confusions happen once every 15 pages of "Suckerpunch". That said I will read another one his novels if I'm stuck in LAX for a typhoon delay.
Bottom line: Buy Adamson used, or I'll give you my copy.

[tetsujin gaijin]

[Ptyx]

The Rain series ?

[Taro Toporific]

[Ptyx]

Yes but more importantly (well at least to me) it featured the unbelievable arm cutting buddha from hell: Tomisaburo Wakayama
Better known as Ogami Itto from the Kozure Okami saga ("baby cart" or "lone wolf and cub" in english).

[tetsujin gaijin]

Not Black Rain! Go here: http://www.barryeisler.com

[Isaac Adamson]

Hi All,

I am the author of Kinki Lullaby, as well as some other books mentioned above. Don't usually respond to stuff like this, but a friend sent me the link, so I thought I'd check it out.

Anyway, Taro Toporific is absolutely right -- Tokyo Suckerpunch is rife with cultural and factual errors. He's being generous in saying they occur every fifteen pages -- in truth, they begin on about page 2. But it wasn't my intention with the book to create an accurrate portrayal of Japan. I know, for instance, that yakuza don't train their dogs according to fighting principles of Musashi, nor are there geisha running around everywhere, nor could you find anyone named Shinto Hirohito, nor is the 19 and Under World Handicapped Martial Arts Championship one of the biggest sporting events in the country. It's quite a silly book, filled with all sorts of absurdities -- most of them intentional.

I actually had a conversation with my editor at the time, in which I proposed re-setting the book in some fictional Asian country, but he insisted I leave it in Japan, claiming few people would know the difference. Funnily enough, he was mostly right. Some people took the depiction quite at face value. Tetsujin Gaijin is correct in observing that its a ridiculous, exaggerated version of Japan being presented. Not realist fiction, in other words. But I did kind of set myself up for misunderstandings by presenting fact and fiction side by side, without providing an easy way for readers to differentiate between the two. There's lots I'd change if I could write the book over again, but...

Anyway, the new one is a bit different. I mostly stuck to the facts, spoke with lots of people, did a ton of research, curbed my wiseass tendencies (for the most part) and had the advantage of having visited Japan a few times since 1997, when the bulk of Tokyo Suckerpunch was written. In the intervening seven years I've learned a bit and I'd like to think my goals and writing style have changed as well. Aside from the main character and the setting, I don't think this book has much in common with Tokyo Suckerpunch.

But obviously, I'm more than a little prejudiced.

I'd be happy to send you (Taro, Mulboyne and Tetsujin) each a free copy of Kinki Lullaby so you can judge for yourselves. Just e-mail me at isaac@billychaka.com with your address and I'll get them in the mail. Nothing to lose by getting a free book, right?

And just so this doesn't come off as total self promotion, in addition to the excellent Barry Eisler books, I'd also reccommend the Peter Tasker books (the best being Samurai Boogie) for good, hardboiled crime fiction set in Tokyo. Also, there's a recent book called The Bang Devils about a bunch of gaijin trying to pull off the perfect crime in Osaka. I haven't read it, but it may be worth checking out.

Isaac

[Taro Toporific]

... World Handicapped Martial Arts Championship...

I'd be happy to send you (Taro, Mulboyne and Tetsujin) each a free copy of Kinki Lullaby so you can judge for yourselves..

Gracious. Righteous. Cho-mega kool.

Like I said I liked your book, but the was a bit hard to figure where the jokes ended and the magical realism began. What you might think as "a ridiculous, exaggerated version of Japan" is my everyday mundane. For reference just read our f'ed gaijin buddyMarvin's MDN news. More specifically, I proclaim that I am the "6 and Under World Handicapped Martial Arts Champion" .... WOTS the joke?

Taro, life's-a-joke-and-then-you-reincarnate

<-- What kind of gaijin tries to climb Mount Fuji 3 times?

[Mulboyne]

Definitely a very gracious offer and thanks for taking the time to post. Your comment about originally considering a "fictional Asian country" makes a lot of sense and puts your work into context.
I think most of the people on this board have come across too much bad journalism and bad writing on Japan to always be able to know when it's a joke. Most of it, happily, dies a death, but when I saw you were on your fourth book, I figured I must have been missing something and other readers seem to agree.

I read "Bang Devils" which was OK. I hear it has been optioned (like Mo Hayder, Barry Eisler and Suzannah Jones). Then again options are easy to buy and easy to give up. I hope you are getting your fair share of attention.

Thanks again

[Isaac Adamson]

Thanks for the replies -- yeah, I can understand your wariness, given the amount of bad information out there about Japan. And I suppose I'm guilty of perpetuating cultural myths and stereotypes on some level, as well as choosing the wackier elements of Japanese society to goof on, as so many foreigner fiction writers do (reading WaiWai everyday can warp your perspective pretty quickly). Then again, I wonder what the reaction would be if a gaijin wrote something like Ryu Murakami's "In the Miso Soup." (Or even titled a novel In the Miso Soup...)

Anyway, I forget who said that a really good book is like its own instruction manual, but I think what left a lot of people scratching their heads about my first couple books especially was that they tried to have it too many ways -- acting as hardboiled genre satire, martial arts fantasy, and genuine mysteries at the same time. Never mind all the Japan stuff, which opened a whole different can of worms.

And yes, Japan seems to be 'hot' right now in Hollywood, thanks I suppose to Kill Bill and Lost in Translation and the rising popularity of manga/anime, and who knows what else. Lots of Japan related properties are getting snapped up. Be interesting to see which if any ever actually make it to the big screen...

[Taro Toporific]

...Japan seems to be 'hot' right now in Hollywood, thanks I suppose to Kill Bill and Lost in Translation and the rising popularity of manga/anime, and who knows what else. Lots of Japan related properties are getting snapped up. Be interesting to see which if any ever actually make it to the big screen...

I was in the Bob Collins' office the day his silly-fun MAX DANGER series was optioned in 1988 by Universal. Nuthin' happen'd. This was the height of the Bubble and Land of the Rising Cliche. Hollywood made "Rising Sun" and "Gung Ho." Meh.

[Mulboyne]

Japan Times: Gumshoes who pass in the night

I must plead mea culpa to the cardinal sin of judging a book by its cover. Like the covers on Issac Adamson's predecessors, "Tokyo Sucker Punch" and "Hokkaido Popsicle," "Kinki Lullaby" is festooned with garish artwork, and I was forced to overcome a certain initial distaste to purchase and read it. I'm certainly glad I did: The book hums with lively prose that, title aside, won't put readers to sleep.

Earlier in this thread, the author, Isaac Adamson offered us free copies of his book which Taro and I, like the liggers we are, gladly accepted. I have to say I agree with Mark Schreiber. The cover and presentation of the books in the Billy Chaka series make you fear the worst but Adamson is actually very witty. Although Taro felt that his first book got Japan a little wrong, this book seemed fine to me so he has clearly hit his stride.
Isaac Adamson was decent enough to step up to this board to support his writing and I think he was right to do so. Having asked the question "What's it like" in the original post, I can answer myself and say "Very good, Worth reading".

[Mulboyne]

And yes, Japan seems to be 'hot' right now in Hollywood, thanks I suppose to Kill Bill and Lost in Translation and the rising popularity of manga/anime, and who knows what else. Lots of Japan related properties are getting snapped up. Be interesting to see which if any ever actually make it to the big screen...

I was just looking at Mr. Adamson's site to see if there is a fifth due anytime when I saw this news (over one year old):

Sony has acquired the Isaac Adamson novel "Tokyo Suckerpunch" to adapt into a feature Tobey Maguire will topline. Studio has hired Ed Solomon to write the pic, to be produced by Maguire through Maguire Entertainment and Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher via their Columbia-based Red Wagon banner. Novel's protag Billy Chaka writes a column that casts him as macho hero living in a surreal, amped-up Tokyo. When his book gets turned into a movie, Chaka flies to the city for the premiere and hates it enough to clash loudly with the director, who ends up murdered.

IMDB, also writing over a year ago, tentatively assigned a 2006 date to the film which doesn't seem possible anymore as Tobey Maguire has Spiderman 3 and another project in the pipeline. If he is still attached, there will have to be some schedule shuffling.