SOURCE: "Hold the Tofu," in The New York Times Book Review, January 17, 1993, p. 18.

In the review below, Hanson values Kitchen as a work about modern, young Japanese.

An Excerpt from Kitchen

"Hey, look! Isn't that a pretty moon?" Yuichi pointed to the winter moon with his chin.

"Oh, isn't it," I said sarcastically (his diversionary tactics were so obvious), but as I stepped into the building I turned to glance at it. It was almost full and shed an incredible brightness.

In the elevator on the way up, Yuichi said, "Of course there's a relationship."

"Between what?"

"Don't you think that seeing such a beautiful moon influences what one cooks? But not in the sense of 'moon-viewing udon,' for instance."

The elevator stopped with a little jerk. When he said that, my heart faltered for an instant. He spoke as if he knew my very soul. As...