{"product_id":"questions-27-28","title":"Questions 27 \u0026 28","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBrief Description\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"In February 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the secretary of war to remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and corral them into inland concentration camps. To be considered for release, they were required to answer the so-called loyalty questionnaire. Question 27 asked the inmates--who had been imprisoned without cause by the US military--whether they were willing to serve in combat for the US military. Question 28 asked them--many of whom American citizens who had never visited Japan--to renounce allegiance to the Japanese emperor. Answering these questions caused volatile divisions within the camps, tore families and friends apart, and had lasting repercussions in the decades postwar. Questions 27 \u0026amp; 28 reaches backward and forward from the time of the questionnaire, chronicling the individuals who arrived in the US from Japan at the turn of the century, their children who came of age during war and incarceration, and their descendants who lived in its aftermath. Yamashita mixes fact with fiction and layers genres from James Bond movies to haiku to oral history, transfiguring an enormity of archival research into a chorus of stories. With her signature wit and aplomb, she gives voice to laborers, artists, scholars, informants, and activists who, over three generations, defined an immigrant community\"-- Provided by publisher.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKaren Tei Yamashita is the author of nine books, including \n\u003ci\u003eI Hotel\u003c\/i\u003e, finalist for the National Book Award. A recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, she is Professor Emerita of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Karen Tei Yamashita deserves to be a literary household name.\"\u003cb\u003e--Adam Morgan, \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e's \"Best Books of 2026\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Most of us understand that history is often just the victor's account of how things happened. But the novel's achievement is that we are forced to experience this insight almost bodily. We feel the weight of the past, all these accumulated voices and perspectives, within and between Yamashita's novels, as well as the process through which disparate stories, anecdotes, or experiences might coalesce as history.\"\u003cb\u003e--Hua Hsu, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[An] ambitious, wide-ranging pastiche of fiction and documentation, a hybrid novel that also serves as an idiosyncratic history of the Japanese experience in America before, during and after the war.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Alida Becker, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Karen Tei Yamashita is one of the preeminent voices of Asian American literature.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Naomi Ellis, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A provocative symphony.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Bethanne Patrick, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Yamashita, a storyteller of the first order, is having a bit of fun, often a lot of fun, with her subjects. In one chapter, she imagines two heroes of the Japanese American reparations movement discussing historic civil rights cases in the afterlife; in another, we hear the story of Harry Kitano, a pioneering social scientist and U.C.L.A. professor, narrated by his trombone.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Robert Ito, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"With \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e, Yamashita is not just seeking to interpret the loyalty debate, and perhaps the experience of internment, by writing fiction about it. She is also challenging her readers to do the interpreting themselves--to join her in deciphering history. . . . In order to read \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e, you have to commit, if only for the length of the novel, to the messy project of American history.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Lily Meyer, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In this innovative polyphonic novel, Yamashita blends archival documents with fictional flourishes. . . . The result is a powerful and lively novel that documents the turmoil endured by internees while raising enduring questions about identity, loyalty, and citizenship.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Yamashita's archival research is astonishing, weighted with polyphonic density . . . yet Yamashita ensures this is no database by quoting and extrapolating records, transcribing and elaborating conversations, and recording and inventing details to create extraordinary testimonies to injustice and resilience.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Terry Hong, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An ambitious novel that spans many forms, ably crossing oceans and centuries.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Kirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"[ \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e] reveals a concealed corner of American history with depth and nuance.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Alta Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Now, at this very moment, our government is rounding people up, imprisoning and deporting them--immigrants, refugees, students, workers with legal visas. They are denied due process as the Constitution is being flouted. It is crucial that we read \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e by Karen Tei Yamashita. Learning what happened not that long ago to American citizens may help us know what actions to take now, legally, politically, heroically.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Maxine Hong Kingston, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Woman Warrior\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e I Love a Broad Margin to My Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"With \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e, Karen Tei Yamashita expands the boundaries of the novel, achieving a polyvocal and multimodal environment within the act of engaged reading the work elicits. \n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28\u003c\/i\u003e challenges the unconscionable incarceration of Japanese Americans with an intricate and intimate testament to the courage, dignity, and creativity of those who dared the alchemy of identity and the integrity of belonging.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Earl Jackson, Professor Emeritus, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn February 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the secretary of war to remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and corral them into inland concentration camps. To be considered for release, they were required to answer the so-called loyalty questionnaire. Question 27 asked the inmates--who had been imprisoned without cause by the US military--whether they were willing to serve in combat for the US military. Question 28 asked them--many of whom American citizens who had never visited Japan--to renounce allegiance to the Japanese emperor. Answering these questions caused volatile divisions within the camps, tore families and friends apart, and had lasting repercussions in the decades postwar. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eQuestions 27 \u0026amp; 28 \u003c\/i\u003ereaches backward and forward from the time of the questionnaire, chronicling the individuals who arrived in the US from Japan at the turn of the century, their children who came of age during war and incarceration, and their descendants who lived in its aftermath. Yamashita mixes fact with fiction and layers genres from James Bond movies to haiku to oral history, transfiguring an enormity of archival research into a chorus of stories. With her signature wit and aplomb, she gives voice to laborers, artists, scholars, informants, and activists who, over three generations, defined an immigrant community. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/15\/2026 (EAN 9781644453810, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/16\/2026 (EAN 9781644453810, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781644453810, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496186315030,"sku":"9781644453810","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781644453810.jpg?v=1783057026","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/questions-27-28","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}