This collection of marvelously off-kilter short stories – the American debut of acclaimed Japanese writer Yasutaka Tsutsui – portrays the consequences of a world where the fantastic and the mundane collide and throw the lives of ordinary men and women into disarray. In “The Dabba Dabba Tree” Tsutsui describes the hilarious side effects of a small conical tree that, when placed at the foot of one’s bed, creates erotic dreams that metamorphose into communal farce. In “Commuter Army”–a sly commentary on the ludicrousness of war–a weapons supplier whose rifles cease functioning after just one shot becomes an unwilling conscript in a war zone. “The World is Tilting” imagines a floating city that slowly begins to sink on one side, causing its citizens to reorient their daily lives to preserve a semblance of normality. In “Rumors About Me”, an ordinary office worker finds himself the subject of intense media scrutiny, his every action documented in the tabloids. And in the title story, we learn just how obscenely absurd the environment on Planet Porno can seem to a group of hapless research scientists. With a sharp eye towards the insanities of contemporary life, Yasutaka Tsutsui crafts in Salmonella Men on Planet Porno an irresistible mix of imagination, satiric fantasy, and truly madcap hilarity.
Publishers Weekly In this collection, his American debut, Tsutsui-recipient of a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres-amplifies the absurdities of contemporary life to usually entertaining results. In "The Dabba Dabba Tree," the erotic dreams caused by a phallus-shaped plant create havoc, as sleeping and waking life are confused for both dreamers and nondreamers alike. In "Rumours about Me," a dull office drone becomes an unwilling celebrity, his every action recounted in breathless detail by the media. Other stories are less lighthearted, such as "Commuter Army," featuring a weapons supplier in the thick of a foreign war, and "Hello, Hello, Hello!" in which a "Household Economy Consultant" cheerfully insinuates himself into a couple's life and leaches every small happiness from them. Tsutsui is less interested in his characters than in teasing his ideas out as far as possible. While this technique has its cerebral pleasures and his writing can be humorous, the application of his one-size-fits-all narrative mold grows tiresome. (Nov.)
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Salmonella Men on Planet Porno (Vintage Contemporaries)

Poruno Wakusei no Sarumonera Ningen

Tsutsui, Yasutaka

Golden Books Publishing Company, Incorporated

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Random House, Incorporated

Pantheon Books

1st American ed., New York, New York State, 2008

Vintage Contemporaries Ser, New York, 2010

Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2010

United States, United States of America

3, 2009

"Originally published in Japan as Poruno wakusei no sarumonera ningen by Shinchosha, Co., Ltd., Tokyo, in 1979"--T.p. verso.
English translation originally published: London : Alma, 2006.
Translation of: Poruno Wakusei no Sarumonera Ningen.

An irresistible mix of imagination, satire, and humor, these stories by acclaimed Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui imagine the consequences of a world where the fantastic and the mundane collide. The opening story, “The Dabba Dabba Tree,” details the hilarious side effects of a small conical tree that, when placed at the foot of one’s bed, creates erotic dreams. In “Commuter Army,” a sly commentary on the ludicrousness of war, a weapons supplier becomes an unwilling conscript in a war zone. “The World is Tilting” imagines a floating city that slowly begins to sink on one side, causing its citizens to reorient their daily lives to preserve a semblance of normality. And in the title story, we see how obscenely absurd the environment on Planet Porno appears to a group of scientists. The stories in Salmonella Men on Planet Porno winningly combine madcap hilarity and a sharp eye toward the insanities of contemporary life.

'Salmonella Men On Planet Porno' is a collection of 13 surrealistic short stories on human folly.
The Dabba Dabba Tree
Rumours about me
Don't laugh
Farmer airlines
Bear's wood main line
The very edge of happiness
Commuter army
Hello, hello, hello!
The world Is tilting
Bravo Herr Mozart!
The last smoker
Bad for the heart
Salmonella men on Planet Porno.

A collection of offbeat short stories from an acclaimed Japanese author explores the folly of human desire in a world in which the fantastic and the mundane collide to throw the lives of ordinary men and women into disarray

2022-11-02