Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan

\“I sometimes think that if, as the result of an accident, I were\nto lose my knowledge of Japanese, there would not be much left for\nme. Japanese, which at first had no connection with my ancestors,\nmy literary tastes, or my awareness of myself as a person, has\nbecome the central element of my life.\”

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In this eloquent and wholly absorbing memoir, the renowned\nscholar Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his\nextraordinary adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with\nan account of his bittersweet childhood in New York; then he\ndescribes his initial encounters with Asia and Europe and the way\nin which World War II complicated that experience. He captures the\nsights, scents, and sounds of Japan as they first enveloped him,\nand talks of the unique travels and well-known intellectuals who\nlater shaped the contours of his academic career.

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Keene traces the movement of his passions with delicacy and\nsubtlety, deftly weaving his love for Japan into a larger narrative\nabout identity and home and the circumstances that led a Westerner\nto find solace in a country on the opposite side of the world.\n_Chronicles of My Life_is not only a fascinating tale of two\ncultures colliding, but also a thrilling account of the emotions\nand experiences that connect us all, regardless of our individual\norigins.

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