Donald Keene traces the chains of his long life (he's passed just over a year ago in his 90s) that lead from sitting next to a Chinese student in his youth to a life as one of the world's preeminent experts on Japanese literature (and quite the writer on culture and history as well).
His life and his career and his friendships with modern writers like Yukio Mishima, as well as his focus on the history of Japanese literature, will have you taking copious notes for your to-read list. Mine doubled - at least for Japanese fiction.
A fun read and an insightful one - I'm already looking forward to tackling more of Keene's books.
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