The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide is paired with Bin Bin Sake in Greenpoint, our favorite curated sake shop in the neighborhood. Both highlight the nuances and simple joys of life, and we couldn't resist pairing one of our favorite Japanese businesses with at cat logo with one of our favorite Japanese cat novels (plus we love that Rule of Thirds', Bin Bin Sake's sister restaurant, book pairing also features a cat!)
PICK UP INSTRUCTIONS: Please note that you will need to pick this up at Bin Bin Sake located at 29 Norman Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222. See here for their store hours and details. When picking up, please mention you have pre-purchased on our website, and share your confirmation number and name.
Book Description (Paperback)
A wonderful sui generis novel about a visiting cat who brings joy into a couple’s life in Tokyo
A bestseller in France and winner of Japan’s Kiyama Shohei Literary Award, The Guest Cat, by the acclaimed poet Takashi Hiraide, is a subtly moving and exceptionally beautiful novel about the transient nature of life and idiosyncratic but deeply felt ways of living. A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife — the days have more light and color. The novel brims with new small joys and many moments of staggering poetic beauty, but then something happens….
As Kenzaburo Oe has remarked, Takashi Hiraide’s work "really shines." His poetry, which is remarkably cross-hatched with beauty, has been acclaimed here for "its seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences,whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae."