FacingtheWave:AJourneyintheWakeoftheTs

"Kirkus"BestBooksoftheYear-"KansasCityStar"BestBooksoftheYearApassionatestudentofJapanesepoetry,theater,andartformuchofherlife,GretelEhrlichfeltcompelledtoreturntotheearthquake-and-tsunami-devastatedTohokucoasttobearwitness,listentosurvivors,andexperiencetheirterrorandexhilarationinvillagesandtownswhereallshelterandhopeseemedlost.Inaneloquentnarrativethatblendsstrongreportage,poeticobservation,anddeeplyfeltreflection,shetakesusintotheupside-downworldofnortheasternJapan,wherenothingiscertainandwheretheboundariesbetweenlivinganddyinghavebeenerasedbywater.Thestoriesofricefarmers,monks,andwanderers;offishermenwhodrovetheirboatsupthesteepwallofthewave;andofaneighty-four-year-oldgeishawhosurvivedthetsunamitohanddownasongthatonlyshestillrememberedarebothharrowingandinspirational.Facingdeath,facinglife,andcomingtotermswithimpermanenceareequallycompellinginalandscapeofsurrealdesolation,astheghostlyspecterofFukushimaDaiichi,thenuclearpowercomplex,spewsradiationintotheoceanandair."FacingtheWave"isatestamenttothebuoyancy,spirit,humor,andstrong-mindednessofthosewhomustfindtheirwayinasuddenlyshatteredworld.