{"id":32270,"date":"2013-10-05T12:19:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T16:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=32270"},"modified":"2013-10-05T14:43:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-05T18:43:00","slug":"jq-magazine-book-review-three-scenarios-in-which-hana-sasaki-grows-a-tail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/05\/jq-magazine-book-review-three-scenarios-in-which-hana-sasaki-grows-a-tail\/","title":{"rendered":"JQ Magazine: Book Review \u2013 \u2018Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JET<\/a>

JET alum Kelly Luce’s first published collection of fiction, Three Scenarios<\/em> often utilizes magic realism to tell stories that take place in Nippon. (A Strange Object)<\/p><\/div>\n

By\u00a0<\/i><\/strong>Rashaad Jorden<\/i><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(<\/i><\/strong>Yamagata-ken<\/i><\/strong><\/a>, 2008-10) for\u00a0<\/i><\/strong>JQ\u00a0<\/strong>magazine<\/b><\/em><\/a>. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub-Chapter, Rashaad currently studies responsible tourism management at <\/i><\/strong>Leeds Metropolitan University<\/i><\/b><\/a>. <\/i><\/strong>For more on his life in the UK and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at <\/i><\/strong>www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

As mysterious as Japan seems to be, there are numerous occurrences in the country that leave you amazed.<\/p>\n

Enter\u00a0Kelly Luce<\/a> (Kawasaki\/Tokushima-ken, 2002-04)<\/b>. The JET Program alum’s first published collection of fiction,\u00a0Three Scenarios in Which\u00a0Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(which is also\u00a0the title of one of Luce’s stories) often utilizes magic realism to tell stories that take place in Nippon.<\/p>\n

Three Scenarios\u00a0<\/i>contains ten stories and the first one, titled\u00a0\u201cMs. Yamada’s Toaster\u201d (which previously appeared in the anthology Tomo<\/a><\/i>), tells the tale of a toaster that can predict one’s death (the toaster even predicted the death of Ms. Yamada’s husband by popping out a piece of bread three days before he suffered a heart attack). In other stories in\u00a0Three Scenarios<\/i>, a teenage girl disappears during karaoke and a stone is haunted by a demon.<\/p>\n

While there may be times in Luce’s stories that Japan may seem inconsequential, the “it could only happen in Japan\u201d moments make her stories came alive. For example, in\u00a0\u201cThe Blue Demon of Ikumi,\u201d a foreigner woman who was considered a demon because a child died under her care is set to be executed (she eventually escapes).\u00a0In\u00a0\u201cWisher,\u201d people make seasonal wishes at a fountain’s stone steps, such as students and parents praying before entrance exams in autumn and during summer for travel. And in the above-mentioned\u00a0\u201cMs. Yamada’s Toaster,\u201d some villagers wish to make the toaster a deity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In general, it seemed like\u00a0the stories would abruptly end, leaving you to wonder what would happen or did I just\u00a0miss something. Luce definitely does a good job of including cultural references in her stories. All of them contain some sort of cultural observation, making it obvious that she lived in Japan. But there were times it was difficult figuring out what happened in the stories.<\/p>\n

However, it’s nice to read about Japan with a touch of magic in it, and the author will be launching a two-month U.S. book tour beginning Oct. 9, giving readings in various cities in Texas, California and Illinois. For more information, visit www.kellyluce.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more\u00a0<\/i><\/strong>JQ\u00a0magazine book reviews, <\/i><\/strong>click here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rashaad Jorden\u00a0(Yamagata-ken, 2008-10) for\u00a0JQ\u00a0magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub-Chapter, Rashaad currently studies responsible tourism management at Leeds Metropolitan University. For more on his life in the UK and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com. As mysterious as Japan seems to be, there are numerous occurrences in the country that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,408,291,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-jet-alum-author-beat","category-jq-magazine","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t