Napier is a reader of considerable acuity and sympathy, with a refreshing candor about her convictions. (Journal of Japanese Studies )

[Napier] has provided us with a valuable guide to the key works and intellectual concerns of these two pillars of postwar Japanese discourse. Moreover, she has offered penetrating interpretations of numerous works that remain inaccessible to many readers, whether due to lack of existing translations or the difficulty of the texts themselves...Susan Napier has undertaken a daunting project in examining so much of the work of not just one, but two of Japan's most formidable writers and personalities. In so doing, she has provided all those who read and write about Japanese literature with a rich resource for provocative exchange.

--Alan Wolfe (Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies )

Susan J. Napier is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.