About
A short, blistering gut punch of a novel, Jackson Alone is at turns satirical and deadpan, angry and tender - a frank exploration of identity, race, and queerness in contemporary Japan.
Nobody at the corporate offices of Athletius Japan knows much about the massage therapist, Jackson, but rumours abound. He used to work as a model. He likes to party. He's mixed race: half-Japanese, half-somewhere-in-Africa-n. He might be gay. Fuelling the gossip is the sudden appearance of a violent, pornographic video featuring a man who looks like a lot like Jackson.
When Jackson serendipitously meets three other queer mixed-race guys, he learns he's not the only one being targeted. Together they concoct a plan: find out who's responsible and, in the meantime, exploit the fact that nobody can seem to tell them apart to trick people who've wronged them.
From an Akutagawa prize winning author, Jackson Alone asks complex questions about how we see ourselves and how we see others, as well as what it really means to get revenge. Jose Ando (Author)
Jose Ando was born and raised in Tokyo and is of African-Asian heritage. His debut novel Jackson Alone was awarded the 59th Bungei Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize, as was his second novel The Camouflaged Man. His third novel Dtopia won the 172nd Akutagawa Prize, solidifying his presence as one of Japan's brightest young literary stars.
Kalau Almony (Translator)
Kalau Almony is a Japanese-English literary translator based in Kawasaki, Japan and a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow. Born and raised in Kailua, Hawai?i, Kalau completed his BA in Comparative Literature at Brown University and MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawai?i at Manoa.
Jose Ando's short, sharp debut about four mixed-raced Black Japanese gay men out for revenge when a disturbing pornographic video of one of them is circulated online. FOR THE WEIRD LITERARY NOVEL FANS: For readers of The Vegetarian, fans of Get Out and lovers of short, weird, character-led thrillers like My Sister the Serial Killer - with brilliant commentary on race, prejudice, the internet, fetishism and workplace politics. Something new in the Japanese translation space. POV of BEING BLACK / MIXED RACE IN JAPAN: Writing from personal experience, Jose Ando's debut novel covers the reality of life as a mixed-race, queer Black person living in Japan. DEBUT AUTHOR: Jose Ando is a quickly rising star in Japan, and this is his first work to be translated into English. He also already has some great praise for this book and is both a finalist and a winner of Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa prize.
Nobody at the corporate offices of Athletius Japan knows much about the massage therapist, Jackson, but rumours abound. He used to work as a model. He likes to party. He's mixed race: half-Japanese, half-somewhere-in-Africa-n. He might be gay. Fuelling the gossip is the sudden appearance of a violent, pornographic video featuring a man who looks like a lot like Jackson.
When Jackson serendipitously meets three other queer mixed-race guys, he learns he's not the only one being targeted. Together they concoct a plan: find out who's responsible and, in the meantime, exploit the fact that nobody can seem to tell them apart to trick people who've wronged them.
From an Akutagawa prize winning author, Jackson Alone asks complex questions about how we see ourselves and how we see others, as well as what it really means to get revenge. Jose Ando (Author)
Jose Ando was born and raised in Tokyo and is of African-Asian heritage. His debut novel Jackson Alone was awarded the 59th Bungei Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize, as was his second novel The Camouflaged Man. His third novel Dtopia won the 172nd Akutagawa Prize, solidifying his presence as one of Japan's brightest young literary stars.
Kalau Almony (Translator)
Kalau Almony is a Japanese-English literary translator based in Kawasaki, Japan and a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow. Born and raised in Kailua, Hawai?i, Kalau completed his BA in Comparative Literature at Brown University and MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawai?i at Manoa.
Jose Ando's short, sharp debut about four mixed-raced Black Japanese gay men out for revenge when a disturbing pornographic video of one of them is circulated online. FOR THE WEIRD LITERARY NOVEL FANS: For readers of The Vegetarian, fans of Get Out and lovers of short, weird, character-led thrillers like My Sister the Serial Killer - with brilliant commentary on race, prejudice, the internet, fetishism and workplace politics. Something new in the Japanese translation space. POV of BEING BLACK / MIXED RACE IN JAPAN: Writing from personal experience, Jose Ando's debut novel covers the reality of life as a mixed-race, queer Black person living in Japan. DEBUT AUTHOR: Jose Ando is a quickly rising star in Japan, and this is his first work to be translated into English. He also already has some great praise for this book and is both a finalist and a winner of Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa prize.