Nathan, Japan Unbound (2004)

John Nathan.
Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.

Book Information : Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• John Nathan (b. 1940), Wikipedia.
• John Nathan, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
• John Nathan, GoodReads.com.
• Nathan translated into English literary works by :
  • Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916)
  • Kōbō Abe (1924–1993)
  • Yukio Mishima (1925–1970)
  • Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023)
  • Notably, Nathan was personally acquainted with Abe, Mishima, and Ōe.
• John Nathan. Mishima: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974; New York: Hachette Book Group, 2000.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sony: The Private Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999; New York: Mariner Books / HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• John Nathan. Sōseki: Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; GoodReads.com; Amazon.com.]
• Full Moon Lunch, 1973, Produced and Directed by John Nathan, YouTube.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Postwar Japan.
• 連合国軍占領期後の日本 [Japan after the Allied Occupation], Wikipedia Japan.
• History of Japan: Heisei period (1989–2019).
• Heisei era.
• 平成 [Heisei], Wikipedia Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~
• Economic history of Japan: Post-World War II.
• Japanese economic miracle, 1950s-1970s.
• Plaza Accord, 1985.
• Japanese asset price bubble, 1986-1991.
• バブル崩壊 [The bubble burst], (article on the "Lost Decades"), Wikipedia Japan.
• 就職氷河期 [Employment Ice Age], following the bubble collapse in 1991, Wikipedia Japan.
• Lost Decades, 1990s-2010s, an extended period of low economic growth (below 2% per year) after the much higher growth rates during the 1950s-1980s period.
• 1997 Asian financial crisis, directly involved Japan's East and SouthEast Asian trading partners, and thus indirectly affected Japan and caused a significant decline in Japan's GDP growth rate in 1997 and 1998.
• William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
  (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
  Some other helpful videos:
  • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
  • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
~~~~~~~~~~
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards).
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature], Wikipedia Japan.

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Comments :

Japan Unbound is a collection of essays on various public, social, and cultural issues prominent in Japan during the early 2000s; the manuscript was completed in 2003. It is based on interviews the author conducted from May 2001 through December 2002 (not to mention the author's experience with Japan beginning in the autumn of 1961).

At the conclusion of the book Nathan describes his experience of encountering Kenzaburō Ōe and Shintaro Ishihara separately within a couple hours on the same evening : "I felt that I had traveled between the poles of the ambivalence that continues to be a troubling condition of contemporary Japanese life" (page 253). This is the general theme of the book: various manifestations of a people in transition from the past to the future (like everybody else in every other society, but this seems heightened in Japan with its distinctive and ancient cultural traditions, its vigorous but then traumatic modernization, followed by its spectacular post-war economic recovery and prosperity). A little more vaguely, Nathan ponders the Japanese cultural identity (however that may be defined) and how that cultural identity informs and vitalizes the Japanese people as individuals and more broadly socially.

Contents of Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose :

1. "Monsters in the House: Japan's Bewildered Children"
   • A deliberate policy during the 1990s of reducing discipline in schools was followed by an explosion of disruptive behavior by students, especially at the lower secondary level. Various seemingly new forms of abnormal behavior in adolescents are also discussed.
   • Education in Japan.
   • Secondary education in Japan.
2. "The Family Crisis"
   • Japanese family.
   • Family policy in Japan.
   • Aging of Japan.
   • Demographics of Japan.
3. "The Culture of Arithmetic"
   • In the wake of low economic growth after the collapse of the 1980s bubble economy, large corporations struggle with maintaining profitability and their other social imperatives (the stability promoted by lifetime employment and the seniority system).
   • Carlos Ghosn (b. 1954).
   • Nissan: Alliance with Renault.
   • William Tsutsui, Japan's Economic Bubble and the Lost Decade, The University of Chicago, 24 June 2009, YouTube.
     (This 1.5 hour talk is a very good survey of Japan's macroeconomic problems.)
     Some other helpful videos:
     • How America Crushed Japan’s Economic Rise
     • The Economy of Japan: How a Superpower Fell from Grace in Four Decades
4. "The Entrepreneurs"
   • 板倉雄一郎, Yuichiro Itakura (b. 1963), wrote books about an entrepreneur's experience with bankruptcy.
   • Masayoshi Son (b. 1958), Softbank Group.
   • 南場智子, Tomoko Namba (b. 1962), founder of the Internet-related company DeNA, ディー・エヌ・エー [DeNA Co.,Ltd.].
   • Oki Matsumoto, 松本大 (実業家) (b. 1963), founder of the online securities brokerage company Monex.
5. "In Search of a Phantom"
   • Japanese nationalism.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi (b. 1953).
   • 小林よしのり (1953–), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, Neo Gōmanism Manifesto Special – On War, 1995–2003.
   • Yoshinori Kobayashi, 新・ゴーマニズム宣言SPECIAL_戦争論 [New Gomanism Declaration SPECIAL War Theory], Wikipedia Japan.
6. "The New Nationalism II: Institutionalizing Trandition"
   • Japanese history textbook controversies.
   • 歴史教科書問題 [History textbook issue], Wikipedia Japan.
7. "Shintaro Ishihara: The Sun King"
   • Shintaro Ishihara (1932–2022); novelist; politician; Governor of Tokyo 1999-2012.
   • 石原慎太郎 (1932–2022), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Shintaro Ishihara, Season of the Sun, 1955, Akutagawa Prize 1956.
   • Shintaro Ishihara and Akio Morita, The Japan That Can Say No, 1989.
8. "Yasuo Tanaka: The Trickster"
   • Yasuo Tanaka (b. 1956); novelist; politician; Governor of Nagano Prefecture 2000-2006; member of the National Diet 2007-2012.
   • 田中康夫 (1956-), Wikipedia Japan.
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Nantonaku, Kurisutaru, 1981 [English translation published as Somehow, Crystal in 2019].
   • Yasuo Tanaka, Pero-Guri Diaries, 1993-.
   • Environmental issues in Japan.
   • Corruption in Japan.
   • Kisha club (記者クラブ, kisha kurabu, "reporters' club").
9. "Epilogue: Outgrowing Adolescence"
   • Japan emerging from its post-war domination by the United States.
   • Japan–United States relations: Post-World War II period.
   • Japan–United States relations: 21st century.

RT, "What's missing?," 9 August 2004 : an interesting review of the book on Amazon.com.

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Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved Books (2023)

Sosuke Natsukawa.
The Cat Who Saved Books.
Translated by Louise Heal Kawai.
London: Picador (Pan Macmillan), 2021.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2023.
(Originally published in Japan by Shogakukan, 2017.)

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Goodreads.

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Author Information :

• 夏川草介 [Sosuke Natsukawa, a pen name / psuedonym] (b. 1978), Wikipedia Japan.
• Sosuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved Books, 2017, English translation 2021; Wikipedia English.

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Translator Information :

• Louise Heal Kawai, @quietmoonwave17, Twitter / X.
• Louise Heal Kawai, Words Without Borders [has a translation by Louise Heal Kawai].
• Louise Heal Kawai, Granta [has a couple translations by Louise Heal Kawai].
• Some other books translated by Louise Heal Kawai :
  • Masateru Konishi, 小西マサテル (b. 1965), My Grandfather, the Master Detective [20##], English translation 2025.
  • Sosuke Natsukawa, 夏川草介 (b. 1978), The Cat Who Saved the Library [20##], English translation 2025.
  • Seicho Matsumoto (1909–1992), Point Zero [1959], English translation 2024.
  • Rio Shimamoto (b. 1983), First Love [2018], English translation 2024.
  • Hideo Yokoyama (b. 1957), The North Light [2019], English translation 2023.
  • Seishi Yokomizo (1902–1981), Death on Gokumon Island [1948], English translation 2022.
  • Seishi Yokomizo (1902–1981), The Honjin Murders [1946], English translation 2019.
  • Soji Shimada (b. 1948), Murder in the Crooked House [1982], English translation 2019.
  • Mieko Kawakami (b. 1976), Ms Ice Sandwich [2013], English translation 2018.
  • Hideo Yokoyama (b. 1957), Seventeen [2003], English translation 2018.
  • Ito Ogawa, 小川糸, (b. 1973), The Island of Expectation [Japanese title: つるかめ助産院, Tsurukame Midwifery Clinic, 2010], English translation 2017.
  • Seicho Matsumoto (1909–1992), A Quiet Place [1975], English translation 2016.
  • Taeko Tomioka, 富岡多恵子 (1935–2023), Building Waves [Japanese title: 波うつ土地, The Land of Waves or Wavy Land, 1983], English translation 2012.
  • Shoko Tendo, Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter [2004], English translation 2007.

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Young adult literature.
• 日本の近現代文学史 [History of modern Japanese literature].
• 大衆小説 [Popular novels].
• 中間小説 [Intermediate novel].
• ファンタジー [Fantasy].

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Comments :

The Cat Who Saved Books is not adult literature. The main characters are two high school students; the simple story uses fantasy adventures to make pious points about the value of books. A cat plays a secondary role as a messenger ... from the the spirit world? ... from the main character's recently deceased grandfather? The book is not about people's relationships with their cats as is the case with Hiraide's The Guest Cat or Inaba's Mornings With My Cat Mii. Given the age of the main characters, the use of fantasy elements (which seem intended for an Anime production), and the pious lessons imparted, I categorize this book as Young Adult literature that's safe (i.e., non-controversial) for the middle school or high school classroom (but which might cause an unfortunate degeneration of the curriculum since its use might displace an older more sophisticated classic work of greater literary merit).

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Sukegawa, Sweet Bean Paste (2017)

Durian Sukegawa.
Sweet Bean Paste.
Translated by Alison Watts.
London: Oneworld Publications, 2017.
(First published in Japan by Poplar Publishing Co., 2013; revised edition, 2015.)

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com; Goodreads.

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Author Information :

• ドリアン助川 (b. 1962), pen name / psuedonym of Tetsuya Akikawa, Wikipedia Japan.
  (Google Translate presents his name with four slightly different spellings in this article: Durian Sukekawa, Durian Sukegawa, Dorian Sukegawa, Dorian Sukekawa.)
• Tetsuya Sukegawa, Meiji Gakuin University.
• 助川 哲也 ; SUKEGAWA Tetsuya, The Faculty of International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University.
• あん (小説), first published 2013, revised edition 2015, movie 2015; English translation published as Sweet Bean Paste; Wikipedia Japan.
• Sweet Bean Paste, 2017; Wikipedia English.
• "Author of novel on leprosy stresses every life has meaning in lecture," The Mainichi, 15 September 2018.
• Alison Watts and Durian Sukegawa, "An Introduction to Durian Sukegawa’s A Dosimeter on the Narrow Road to Oku." Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Volume 21, Issue 5, Number 1, 15 May 2023.
• Durian Sukegawa, "Cycling the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Thoughts, Sights, and Encounters," translated by Alison Watts, Asymptote, April 2020.
  (This excerpt from A Dosimeter on the Narrow Road to Oku does not overlap with the one published in Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus above. I recommend reading the Asia-Pacific Journal one first since it covers the beginning of Sukegawa's journey and ends with his arrival in Nasu while the Asymptote excerpt continues, after an introduction, with stories of people he met while in Nasu and later in his journey.)
• "Travelogue as Moral Inquiry: Cycling the Narrow Road to the Deep North [PDF], A Primal Design: Spring 2020 Educator’s Guide, Asymptote, 2020, pages 5-9.
  (This is a collection of lesson plans for teachers using the excerpt from Asymptote above.)

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Translator Information :

• Alison Watts: Japanese to English Literary Translator.
• List of other books translated by Alison Watts at her website Alison Watts.
• Alison Watts, LinkedIn.
• Alison Watts, Words Without Borders.
• Deborah Iwabuchi, "The Saga of Sweet Bean Paste: A Conversation with Alison Watts," SCBWI Japan Translation Group.
• Alison Watts, "Literary Journeys: Living Through Art in the Wake of Disaster," Words Without Borders, 11 March 2019.
• Christopher Hermelin, "Alison Watts: The Life of a Translator and Reading for Fun When Your Job is in the Literary World," So Many Damn Books, 13 December 2022.
• "Ms Alison Watts," St Mark's College, North Adelaide, South Australia.
  (Biography and interview of an alumna of the college.)
• Watts Sashiko, Alison Watts' website about Sashiko (a type of embroidery).

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Leprosy in Japan.
• Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium, appears as "Tenshoen" in Sweet Bean Paste.
• National Hansen's Disease Museum (Japan), mentioned in Sweet Bean Paste.
• Cannabis in Japan; the character Sentaro in Sweet Bean Paste spent two years in prison for a cannabis offense.

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Barton, Fifty Sounds (2021)

Polly Barton.
Fifty Sounds.
London: Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021.
New York: Liveright Publishing, 2022.

Book Information : Publisher UK; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• Polly Barton (b. 1984), Wikipedia.
• Polly Barton, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH).
• Polly Barton, Porn: An Oral History, London: Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

Translations :

• Tomoka Shibasaki, Spring Garden, Translated by Polly Barton, London: Pushkin Press, 2017, 2024.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Nao-cola Yamazaki, Friendship for Grown-Ups, Translated by Polly Barton, Norwich, UK: Strangers Press, 2017.
  [Publisher; Amazon.com.]
• Misumi Kubo, Mikumari, Translated by Polly Barton, Norwich, UK: Strangers Press, 2017.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Aoko Matsuda, Where the Wild Ladies Are, Translated by Polly Barton, London: Tilted Axis Press, 2020; New York: Soft Skull Press, 2020.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Kikuko Tsumura, There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, Translated by Polly Barton, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Misumi Kubo, So We Look to the Sky, Translated by Polly Barton, New York: Arcade (Simon & Schuster), 2021.
  [Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Mieko Kanai, Mild Vertigo, Translated by Polly Barton, New York: New Directions, 2023.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Asako Yuzuki, Butter, Translated by Polly Barton, London: 4th Estate (HarperCollins Publishers), 2024; New York: Ecco (HarperCollins Publishers), 2024.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Sado Island, Japan.
• Japanese language.
• Onomatopoeia.
• Japanese sound symbolism.
• Reduplication.
• Ideophone.
• Mimesis.
~~~~~~~~~~
• Culture of Japan.
• Japanese nationalism.
• Ethnic nationalism in Japan.
• Religion in Japan.
• Edo neo-Confucianism.
• Buddhism in Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~
• Western culture.
• Feminism.
• Feminism in the United Kingdom.
• Women in Japan.
• Feminism in Japan.

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Szablowski, Dancing Bears (2018)

Witold Szablowski.
Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny.
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
New York: Penguin Books, 2018.
Originally published: Tańczące niedźwiedzie, Warsaw: Agora SA, 2014.

Book Information : Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information :

• Witold Szablowski (b. 1980), Wikipedia.
• Witold Szabłowski. The Assassin From Apricot City. Poland, 2010. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. London(?): Stork Press Ltd, 2013.
  [Publisher; Amazon.com.]
• Witold Szabłowski. How to Feed a Dictator. Poland, 2019. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. New York: Penguin Books, 2020.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Witold Szabłowski. What's Cooking in the Kremlin. Poland, 2021. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. New York: Penguin Books, 2023.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Wikipedia Articles :

• Cold War, 1947–1991.
• Eastern Bloc.
• Post-communism.
• Communist nostalgia.

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Note:

This book's title, Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny, seemed a little strange to me, awkward somehow. "Dancing Bears"? No, that evokes only a mildly pleasurable idea of seemingly happy bears. After some reflection the cause of the awkwardness became apparent: the subtitle "Life Under Tyranny". That's quite a contrast, from seemingly happy "Dancing Bears" to an ominous and forbidding "Life Under Tyranny". There are at least two ways of considering this contrast. First, in reading the book you will find that the individual bears were in a sense tyrannized by their keepers by the iron ring their keeper inserted into the bear's nose and used to manipulate the bear's behavior, giving the illusion that the bear "danced". Somehow you might also create a vague metaphor or simile between bears and people, that people living in societies in which the ruling ideology included some variant of communism are like bears controlled by a ring in their nose. I don't think that simile is successful because ALL societies have some kind of ideology in which individuals are indoctrinated and by which their behavior can be manipulated and controlled. Anti-communist ideologues seem to me particularly obnoxious in their jumping up and down exclaiming and pointing at a foreign society, that it is ruled by some kind of communist ideology. What about themselves? What ideologies rule their own society? And is there not also some kind of tyranny in their own society? These reflections point to a second way of viewing the contrast in the book's title: the phrase "Life Under Tyranny" is pure Cold War propaganda. As someone born in the USA in 1960, I lived the first 30 years of my life on the receiving end of American Cold War propaganda; we were constantly instructed on the evils of communist tyranny. So this book's title gives me an uneasy feeling. Further, consider this: nobody wants to live under tyranny and tyranny can rarely be justified, although in rare circumstances of extreme danger all societies will impose some temporary measures considered tyrannous in order to deal with some temporary emergency. Otherwise nobody will argue in favor of tyranny. Note the shift from specific policies considered tyrannous to the more nebulous penumbra of "tyranny". My main point in this note is to point out that the book's subtitle "Life Under Tyranny" screams out to me that this book is engaging in propaganda.

I started wondering whether the book's title had been engineered for the American audience. The USA and United Kingdom editions of this book have the same title with the "Life Under Tyranny" subtitle. HOWEVER, the Australian edition has a different subtitle! : Dancing Bears: True Stories about Longing for the Old Days.

• Witold Szabłowski. Dancing Bears: True Stories about Longing for the Old Days. Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Melbourne, Australia: Text Publishing Company, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

I think this difference in subtitles confirms my suspicions about the propagandistic nature of the title of the USA edition. Looking more closely at the Wikipedia article about Szablowski, and noting the praise he has received from American establishment propaganda outlets (The New York Times, NPR, Foreign Affairs), I can only conclude that Szablowski himself is an experienced propagandist.

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Mearsheimer, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities (2018)

John J. Mearsheimer.
The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities.
New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information:

• Mearsheimer, his website.
• John Mearsheimer, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago.
• John Mearsheimer (b. 1947), Wikipedia.
• John’s Substack | John J. Mearsheimer, Substack.
• Mearsheimer AI Chatbot.

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Other Books by John Mearsheimer:

• John J. Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato. How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2023.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• John J. Mearsheimer. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, Updated Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. (First edition 2001.)
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• John J. Mearsheimer. Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• John J. Mearsheimer. Liddell Hart and the Weight of History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1988, 2010.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• John J. Mearsheimer. Conventional Deterrence. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Selected Articles by John Mearsheimer:

• John J. Mearsheimer, "Why the West is to Blame for the Ukraine Crisis", Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014, 18 August 2014.
• John J. Mearsheimer, "Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order", International Security, volume 43, number 4, pages 7–50, 2019.
• John J. Mearsheimer, "Playing With Fire in Ukraine: The Underappreciated Risks of Catastrophic Escalation", Foreign Affairs, 17 August 2022.
• John J. Mearsheimer, "Who Caused the Ukraine War?", Substack, 05 August 2024.

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Wikipedia Articles:

• Liberalism (international relations).
• Idealism in international relations.
• Liberal internationalism.
• Liberal international order.
• Polarity (international relations).
• Realism (international relations).
• Nationalism.

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Diesen, The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order (2024)

Glenn Diesen.
The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order.
Atlanta, Georgia: Clarity Press, 2024.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information:

• Glenn Diesen, University of Southeast Norway.
• Glenn Diesen (b. 1979), Wikipedia.
• Glenn Diesen, YouTube channel.
• Glenn Diesen. EU and NATO Relations with Russia: After the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2015. London: Routledge, 2016.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. Russia's Geoeconomic Strategy for a Greater Eurasia. London: Routledge, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. The Decay of Western Civilisation and Resurgence of Russia. London: Routledge, 2019.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. Russian Conservatism: Managing Change under Permanent Revolution. Lanhan, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. Europe as the Western Peninsula of Greater Eurasia: Geoeconomic Regions in a Multipolar World. Lanhan, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. Great Power Politics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Geoeconomics of Technological Sovereignty. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. Russophobia: Propaganda in International Politics. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Glenn Diesen. The Think Tank Racket: Managing the Information War with Russia. Atlanta, Georgia: Clarity Press, 2023.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Wikipedia Articles:

• Realism (international relations).
• Liberalism (international relations).
• Idealism in international relations.
• Liberal internationalism.
• Liberal international order.
• Polarity (international relations).

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Diesen provides a very good summary of international relations theory, contrasting realism and liberalism, which then provides a very insightful framework for understanding geopolitical events over the last 500 years. He then describes events since the late-1980s end of the Cold War, how the West's/USA's dismissal of Russia's security concerns and aggressive expansion of NATO eastwards eventually provoked the recent war in Ukraine, and the consequences this has for the now emerging (already emerged) multipolar world order and the end of previous world order of liberal hegemony dominated by the USA. This book is an excellent introduction to understanding past events and the approaching future.

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Tesdell, editor, Cat Stories (2011)

Diana Secker Tesdell, editor.
Cat Stories.
Everyman's Library Pocket Classics.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf (Penguin Random House), 2011.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

Book Series: Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series.

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Contents of Cat Stories :

~~~~~~~~~~ People and Their Cats ~~~~~~~~~~
• Alice Adams (1926–1999), "The Islands", from The Stories of Alice Adams, 2002.
• Maeve Brennan (1917–1993), "I See You, Bianca", from The Rose Garden: Short Stories, 2000.
• Damon Runyon (1880–1946), "Lillian", from Guys and Dolls, 1932.
• Doris Lessing (1919–2013), "An Old Woman and Her Cat", from The Temptation of Jack Orkney and Other Stories, 1972.
  Also reprinted in: Doris Lessing, Stories, Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics, 2008.
  Maybe reprinted in [I haven't been able to verify this using online sources] : Doris Lessing, On Cats, London: Flamingo, 2002; New York: HarperCollins, 2008.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1870–1916), "Tobermory", first published in 1909, first collected in The Chronicles of Clovis, 1911 [Archive.org].
  Also reprinted in: Saki/Munro, The Complete Saki, Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1982, 1997.
  Also reprinted in: Saki/Munro, The Complete Short Stories, Penguin Books, 2000.
• P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), "Cats Will Be Cats", from Mulliner Nights, 1933.
  [Archive.org; Amazon.com.]
~~~~~~~~~~ Cats and Their People ~~~~~~~~~~
• Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), "The Cat That Walked by Himself", from Just So Stories, 1902.
  Also reprinted in: Rudyard Kipling, Stories and Poems, edited by Daniel Karlin, Oxford World's Classics, 2015.
  
• Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930), "The Cat", first collected in Understudies: Short Stories, 1901 [Archive.org].
  Some of Freeman's other works are currently in-print in these editions:
  • A Mary Wilkins Freeman Reader, edited by Mary Reichardt, 1997.
  • A New-England Nun: and Other Stories, edited by Sandra A. Zagarell, Penguin Classics, 2000.
• Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), "Broomsticks", from Broomsticks and Other Tales, 1925 [Archive.org].
  Collections of works by Walter de la Mare:
  • Short Stories 1895-1926, edited by Giles de la Mare, 1996.
  • Short Stories 1927-1956, edited by Giles de la Mare, 2001.
  • Short Stories for Children [includes Broomsticks and Other Tales], edited by Giles de la Mare, 2006.
  • Stories, Essays and Poems, Everyman's Library #940, 1941.
  • Collected Poems, 1941.
• Patricia Highsmith (1921–1995), "Ming's Biggest Prey", first collected in The Animal-Lover's Book of Beastly Murder, 1975.
  Also reprinted in: The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith, W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.
  Also reprinted in: Under a Dark Angel's Eye: The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith, Virago, 2021.
• Edgar Allen Poe (1809–1849), "The Black Cat", 1843.
  Also reprinted in: Edgar Allen Poe, Poetry and Tales, edited by Patrick F. Quinn, Library of America, 1984.
• Neil Gaiman (b.1960), "The Price", from Smoke and Mirrors, 1998.
~~~~~~~~~~ Fanciful Felines ~~~~~~~~~~
• Fritz Leiber (1910–1992), "Space-Time for Springers", from Gummitch and Friends, 1992.
  Also reprinted in: Fritz Leiber, Selected Stories, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Charles N. Brown, San Francisco: Night Shade Books, 2010.
• Italo Calvino (1923–1985), "The Garden of Stubborn Cats", originally collected in Marcovaldo or The Seasons in the City, 1963; English translation 1983.
• Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951), "Ancient Sorceries", first collected in John Silence: Physician Extraordinary, 1908 [Archive.org, USA edition 1909].
  Also reprinted in: Algernon Blackwood, Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories, edited by S. T. Joshi, Penguin Classics, New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  Also reprinted in: Algernon Blackwood, The Wendigo and Other Stories, edited by Aaron Worth, Oxford World's Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  Also reprinted in: Algernon Blackwood, The Complete John Silence Stories, edited by S. T. Joshi, Dover Horror Classics, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1997, 2011.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  
• Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), "The King of the Cats", first published in 1929.
  Also reprinted in: Stephen Vincent Benét, Twenty-Five Short Stories, Garden City, New York: The Sun Dial Press, 1943.
  Also reprinted in: American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps, edited by Peter Straub, Library of America, 2009.
• Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018), "Schrödinger's Cat", first published in Universe 5, 1974.
• Angela Carter (1940–1992), "Puss-in-Boots", first collected in The Bloody Chamber, 1979.
  Recently reprinted: Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Penguin Books, 2015.
• Steven Millhauser (b.1943), "Cat 'n' Mouse", first collected in Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories, New York: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House), 2008; reprinted New York: Vintage Books (Random House), 2009.

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Afterword (last updated 09 June 2024): What stories were left out from Tesdell's book?

A little while after reading Tesdell's book I wondered: What stories were left out? After all, in compiling anthologies there are space limitations, and the editor must certainly have had an abundance of stories to choose from, and some of them would likely be considered the equal or even superior by some readers to those included by the editor.

One can begin to get an idea of this from another recently published anthology of cat stories:

• Classic Cat Stories, Edited by Becky Brown, London: Macmillan Collector's Library, 2020.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

What is the overlap between the books edited Tesdell and Brown? Out of 19 stories in Tesdell and 23 stories in Brown, they share 7 stories: those by Poe, Freeman, de la Mare, Kipling, Saki's "Tobomory", Benet, and Runyon. Otherwise Brown's anthology seems oriented towards older "classic" stories while Tesdell includes several more recently written stories (for example those first published since 1950 by Calvino, Leiber, Lessing, Le Guin, Highsmith, Carter, Adams, Brennan, Gaiman, Millhauser).

I would also like to note that there is a strong Japanese cat literature that is completely ignored by these two anthologies edited by Tesdell and Brown. For example, see my posts for Sōseki, I Am a Cat (2001); Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition (2021); Hiraide, The Guest Cat (2014). What else is there to be found in the literatures of Russia, China, India, Africa, Latin America?

A random list of other cat stories in neither Tesdell or Brown that I have stumbled across:

• Colette (1873–1954), "The Cat", 19??.
  Reprinted in: Colette, Gigi, and The Cat, Translated by Roger Stenhouse, London: Vintage Classics (Penguin Books), 2001.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  Note: It appears "The Cat" was not included in The Collected Stories of Colette, Edited by Robert G. Phelps, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984. London: Vintage Classics (Penguin Books), 2003.
  [Publisher USA; Publisher UK; Google Books; Amazon.com.]

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Hiraide, The Guest Cat (2014)

Takashi Hiraide.
The Guest Cat.
Translated by Eric Selland.
New York: New Directions, 2014.
A New Directions Paperbook Original, NDP1274.
Originally published as: Neko no Kyaku, Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2001.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Wikipedia Articles:

• Takashi Hiraide (b. 1950).
• Japanese literature: Postwar literature (1945–onwards).

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Judis, The Populist Explosion (2016)

John B. Judis.
The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics.
New York: Columbia Global Reports, 2016.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author information:

• John Judis, Wikipedia.
• John Judis, C-SPAN.
• John B. Judis, The New Republic.
• John Judis, Talking Points Memo.
• John B. Judis, Twitter.
• John B. Judis, The Nation.
• John B. Judis, Dissent.
• John B Judis, The Guardian.

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Video: John B. Judis

• John Judis, "The Populist Explosion," Lunch Speakers Series, Program on Constitutional Government, Harvard University, 07 October 2016.
  • Lunch Speakers Series, The Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University.
  • About the Program on Constitutional Government.
• "The Rise of Populism: Expected or Unexpected?" The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 24 October 2016.
  • The Rise of Populism: Expected or Unexpected?, Chicago Council on Global Affairs. This webpage has profiles of the participants, video, and other information.
  • The Power of Populism, Foreign Affairs, Volume 95, Number 6, November/December 2016.
• John B. Judis and Joanne J. Myers, "The Populist Explosion," Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, New York, 01 February 2017.
  • Event Information, Video, Audio, and Transcript, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
• John B. Judis, "The Populist Explosion," Politics and Prose Bookstore, Washington, D.C., February 2017.
  • Book Information at Politics and Prose Bookstore.

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Frank, The People, No (2020)

Thomas Frank.
The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism.
New York: Metropolitan Books, 2020.

Book Information: Publisher; Author's Website; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Author Information:

• Thomas Frank (b.1965), Wikipedia.
• Thomas Frank, author's website.
• Thomas Frank, The Baffler.
• Thomas Frank, Salon.com.
• Thomas Frank. What's the Matter with Kansas? New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.
  [Publisher; Author's Website; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Thomas Frank. Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? New York: Metropolitan Books, 2016.
  [Publisher; Book Website; Author's Website; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
  My post for Listen, Liberal is here.

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Video and Audio: Thomas Frank

• Thomas Frank, C-SPAN.org.
• Search YouTube for Thomas Frank The People No.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• Thomas Frank, Robert L. Hess Scholar in Residence 2015, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Ment Media Group, YouTube Playlist, 23-26 March 2015.
  (This playlist contains a series of ten videos in which Frank discusses his career, his books, and other topics in a variety of formats and settings from formal lectures to less formal question and answer sessions with students.)

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Frank, Listen, Liberal (2016)

Thomas Frank.
Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
New York: Metropolitan Books, 2016.

Book Information: Publisher; Book Website; Author's Website; Google Books; Amazon.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Information:

• Thomas Frank (b.1965), Wikipedia.
• Thomas Frank, author's website.
• Thomas Frank, The Baffler.
• Thomas Frank, Salon.com.
• Thomas Frank. What's the Matter with Kansas? New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Thomas Frank. Rendezvous with Oblivion: Reports from a Sinking Society. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2018.
  [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
• Thomas Frank. The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2020.
  [Publisher; Amazon.com.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Video and Audio: Thomas Frank

• Thomas Frank, C-SPAN.org.
• Search YouTube for Thomas Frank Listen Liberal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
• Thomas Frank, Robert L. Hess Scholar in Residence 2015, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Ment Media Group, YouTube Playlist, 23-26 March 2015.
  (This playlist contains a series of ten videos in which Frank discusses his career, his books, and other topics in a variety of formats and settings from formal lectures to less formal question and answer sessions with students.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles:

• History of the United States Democratic Party.
• Presidency of Bill Clinton, Jan 1993 – Jan 2001.
• Presidency of Barack Obama, Jan 2009 – Jan 2017.
• Fifth Party System, 1932 – about 1980.
• Sixth Party System, about 1980 – present (or: about 2020).

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Additional Articles / Essays:
(on the same topic as Frank's Listen, Liberal)

• NewDealDemocrat, "'The Changing of the Guard:' The Prescient 1980 Book That Foretold the Democrat Love Affair With Neoliberalism," naked capitalism, 14 August 2017.
• Matt Stoller, "How Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul," The Atlantic, 24 October 2016.

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