Now on the Kaya Press Smoking Hot Bookshelves is our newest title: Lament In The Night by Shoson Nagahara (Translated by Andrew Leong).

A collection of two novellas originally published in 1920s Los Angeles, both stories are evocative of their age. Complete with the sex, gambling, and alcohol that have become synonymous with the time, both stories provide a window into a period of Asian American History previously seen only through the filter of textbooks. The title novella follows itinerant day laborer Sakuzo Ishikawa as he bounces around back alleys and bathhouses of Los Angeles, looking for a meal, a job, or a quick lay. The second novella, Tale of Osato, follows a young mother working her way through nightclubs and speakeasies after being abandoned by her gambling-addicted husband. 1920s to the core, both protagonists challenge notions of what The Jazz Age looked like.

Available for Purchase: here