(tent) Just Below the Zenith

A stunning collection of love stories, shimmering with Hiromi Kawakami’s signature magic—a delicate blend of the surreal, the tender, and the deeply human. [Kazumi-chan’s Story] “Kazumi-chan once said something terrifying: ‘I was born from a clone.’ One day, she invited me to help rob a cow.” [Humoresque] A strange girl named Hana calls herself a poet. She’s in love with Iida Ayumu, and writes poems laced with his name. [Gold and Silver] I first met Haruki when I was a child. We reunited two years after his divorce—only for him to disappear again one day. [Eiko-chan’s Tail] “I have a short tail,” Eiko-chan once claimed. She was the one who saved me when I was about to be attacked by a man. [Climbing the Wall] My mother sometimes brings strange people home—women I’ve never met, elderly strangers. Now there’s Gorō, who climbs the walls of our house whenever the weather is nice. [Night Drive] At a hot spring, my mother suddenly says, “I want to go for a midnight drive. I just realized—I’ve never done that with someone I love.” [Just Below the Zenith] Ryō is eleven years younger than me. He loves me with all his heart and soul. But that’s not what I want— I want to be the one who loves him, fully and fiercely, with everything I have.