{"product_id":"so-we-look-to-the-sky-paperback-1","title":"So We Look to the Sky - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMisumi Kubo\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003ePolly Barton\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis shocking, boisterous novel was a runaway bestseller and award winner in Japan\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Pressingly real . . . In these pages, you will find the lives of all of us\"--\u003ci\u003eJapan Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Searingly honest and sexually explicit, \u003ci\u003eSo We Look to the Sky\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel told in five linked stories that begin with an affair between a student, Takumi, and a woman ten years his senior. Their scandalous liaison, which the woman's husband makes public by posting a secretly taped video online, frames all of the stories, each exploring different aspects of the passages of life and the hardships ordinary people face. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A teenager experimenting with sex and then, perhaps, experiencing love and loss; a young, anime-obsessed wife bullied by her mother-in-law to produce the child she and her husband cannot conceive; a high school girl, spurned by Takumi, realizing that being cute and fertile is all others expect of her; Takumi's best friend, who lives in the projects and is left alone to support and care for his voracious, senile grandmother; and Takumi's mother, a divorced single parent and midwife, who guides women bringing new life into this world and must rescue her son, crushed by the twin blows of public humiliation and loss, from giving up on his own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Narrating each story in the distinctive voice of its protagonist, Misumi Kubo weaves themes including sex, love, the female body, gossip, and the bullying that leaves young people feeling burdened and helpless into a profoundly original novel that stays with you for its affirmation of the raw, unstoppable force of life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMisumi Kubo\u003c\/b\u003e withdrew from junior college and worked for an advertising company before turning freelance as a writer and editor. She is the author of seven novels. She won the R-18 Literature Prize in 2009 for the short story that became the first chapter of \u003ci\u003eSo We Look to the Sky\u003c\/i\u003e, her debut novel, which won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, placed second in the voting for the Japan Booksellers' Award, and was a runaway bestseller. Her next novel, \u003ci\u003eStray Whale on a Sunny Day, \u003c\/i\u003ewon the Futaro Yamada Prize. In 2022, she won the Naoki Prize for her short story collection. She lives in Japan. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePolly Barton\u003c\/b\u003e is a translator of Japanese fiction and nonfiction. She has translated short stories for Words Without Borders, the \u003ci\u003eWhite Review, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGRANTA\u003c\/i\u003e. Full-length translations include \u003ci\u003eWhere the Wild Ladies Are \u003c\/i\u003eby Matsuda Aoko, \u003ci\u003eSpring Garden\u003c\/i\u003e by Tomoka Shibasaki, \u003ci\u003eThere's No Such Thing as an Easy Job\u003c\/i\u003e by Kikuko Tsumura, \u003ci\u003eMild Vertigo\u003c\/i\u003e by Mieko Kanai, \u003ci\u003eHunchback \u003c\/i\u003eby Saou Ichikawa, and \u003ci\u003eButter \u003c\/i\u003eby Asako Yuzuki. She has written two books, \u003ci\u003eFifty Sounds and \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ePorn: An Oral History\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in the UK.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 288\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8.2 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 29, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47265554530553,"sku":"9781648211836","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/JZlj3Po1PA9781648211836_1b31562a-875d-492b-93a6-46425e968c90.webp?v=1768843521","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/so-we-look-to-the-sky-paperback-1","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}