"Beyond Nationmarks a rare and fortunate encounter of theoretical passion with the work of Abe Kôbô. It is also a public protestation against the conservative climate of academia in the United States and Japan. Calichman makes a dimensional leap from the previous studies of Abe Kōbō's work and modern Japanese literature."—Naoki Sakai , Goldwin Smith Professor of Asian Studies, Cornell University "At a time when Abe Kōbō's work once again reverberates powerfully within contemporary life, Richard Calichman offers a timely intervention into this author's complex and under-thought oeuvre.But beyond the searching insight that he brings to bear, Calichman offers a series of original and critical interventions that resonate just as poignantly with the present."—Akira Mizuta Lippit, Chair, Bryan Singer Divisionof Critical Studies, USC "A remarkable writer and philosopher, Abe Kōbō raised questions about human existence and the boundaries of identity which have powerful resonance for the present day. Richard Calichman's work offers a profound and illuminating perspective on Abe's vision of the human condition."—Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Australian National University Calichman reads Abe Kōbō's work with extraordinary precision, gathering a focus that unfolds in a layered dialectical cascade of regressions."—Steven C. Ridgely, Journal of Japanese Studies