Polite Lies

On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures

Author Kyoko Mori
Look inside
In this powerful and exquisitely crafted book, notable author Kyoko Mori delves into her dual heritage with a rare honesty that is both graceful and stirring. From her unhappy childhood in Japan, weighted by a troubled family and a constricting culture, to the American Midwest, where she found herself free to speak as a strong-minded independent woman, Mori explores: the different codes of silence, deference, and expression that govern Japanese and American women's lives; the ties that bind us to family and the lies that keep us apart; the rituals of mourning that give us the courage to accept death; and the images of the body that make sex seem foreign to Japanese women and second nature to Americans.

In the sensitive hands of this compelling writer, one woman's life becomes the mirror of two profoundly different societies. Strongly recommended for students of women's studies and cultural studies courses.

"Mori's exquisite language leads readers to an understanding of a civilization as highly developed as ours but one that has developed much differently in the area of human relations."-Booklist

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Language; 2. Family; 3. Secrets; 4. Rituals; 5. A Woman's Place; 6. Bodies; 7. Symbols;
8. School; 9. Tears; 10. Lies; 11. Safety; 12. Home
Kyoko Mori is the author of three nonfiction books: Yarn: Remembering the Way Home; Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures; and The Dream of Water. Mori’s essay “Yarn” was selected for The Best American Essays 2004 and Polite Lies was shortlisted for PEN’s Martha Albrand Nonfiction Award. View titles by Kyoko Mori
"A small universe of memory and reflection, analysis and synthesis, presented with an artist's touch."
--The Boston Sunday Globe

"A BEAUTIFUL BOOK . . . Her prose has the deceptive simplicity of a Japanese garden. By itself, each element seems to be plain and unadorned, but, in combination, the effect is stunning."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kyoko Mori is "uniquely qualified to write at an intersection many have visited but few have truly understood."
--The Washington Post Book World

About

In this powerful and exquisitely crafted book, notable author Kyoko Mori delves into her dual heritage with a rare honesty that is both graceful and stirring. From her unhappy childhood in Japan, weighted by a troubled family and a constricting culture, to the American Midwest, where she found herself free to speak as a strong-minded independent woman, Mori explores: the different codes of silence, deference, and expression that govern Japanese and American women's lives; the ties that bind us to family and the lies that keep us apart; the rituals of mourning that give us the courage to accept death; and the images of the body that make sex seem foreign to Japanese women and second nature to Americans.

In the sensitive hands of this compelling writer, one woman's life becomes the mirror of two profoundly different societies. Strongly recommended for students of women's studies and cultural studies courses.

"Mori's exquisite language leads readers to an understanding of a civilization as highly developed as ours but one that has developed much differently in the area of human relations."-Booklist

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Language; 2. Family; 3. Secrets; 4. Rituals; 5. A Woman's Place; 6. Bodies; 7. Symbols;
8. School; 9. Tears; 10. Lies; 11. Safety; 12. Home

Author

Kyoko Mori is the author of three nonfiction books: Yarn: Remembering the Way Home; Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures; and The Dream of Water. Mori’s essay “Yarn” was selected for The Best American Essays 2004 and Polite Lies was shortlisted for PEN’s Martha Albrand Nonfiction Award. View titles by Kyoko Mori

Praise

"A small universe of memory and reflection, analysis and synthesis, presented with an artist's touch."
--The Boston Sunday Globe

"A BEAUTIFUL BOOK . . . Her prose has the deceptive simplicity of a Japanese garden. By itself, each element seems to be plain and unadorned, but, in combination, the effect is stunning."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kyoko Mori is "uniquely qualified to write at an intersection many have visited but few have truly understood."
--The Washington Post Book World

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