SOURCE: Allen, Brooke. “Foreign Voices.” New Leader 86, no. 1 (January-February 2003): 24-5.

In the following review, Allen contends that although Somersault is replete with beautiful images and compelling ideas, the novel is both “alienating and boring.”

Ever since World War II Japan has been our partner, whether willingly or unwillingly, in the creation of a consumer society and the development of a business-friendly world order. Yet despite the postwar proliferation of films and television, not to mention the current explosion in global communications and Internet technology, the Japanese remain strangely mysterious to Americans. We avidly buy Japan's cars, sound systems and TVs, but we have taken little interest in its cultural products, except for some comic strips and a few benign children's creations like Pokémon and Hello Kitty. There are no Japanese shows for adults on American television. Only the most fervent American cineastes make any effort to see...