Intense, brilliantly paced narrative...Inoue's masterful novella triumphs through a series of perceptive character studies. It is a wonderful book, ironic yet sympathetic, and the perspective cleverly shifts between the players and their expectations, some complex, some relatively simple -- Eileen Battersby Irish Times Superb... a straightforward depiction of urban life expands into a rich, philosophical exploration of human agency and choice... Pushkin Press has performed a valuable service in making this great work available in English Independent on Sunday Perfection is the only word to describe this subtle tale of a plan to host a bullfight in a Japan still battered by the second World War -- Eileen Battersby Irish Times A disarmingly simple tale of ambition and entrepreneurial daring... written in tight, confident prose... Pushkin's exquisitely produced edition provides readers of English with long-overdue access to an important Japanese voice. There are plans to publish more... If Bullfight is any guide, what follows should be well worth the wait -- David Pilling Financial Times Rich with imagery and meaning that few novels manage today -- Chris Corker Japan Society Bullfight, a beautifully crafted tale, is a delight to read and its translation into English is long overdue World Today Written in spare, clean prose, and excellently translated by Michael Emmerich, Bullfight is a powerful, accessible read... Pushkin's edition is not only a beautifully produced physical object in itself, but an important and long-overdue introduction of a masterful writer to the anglosphere. With another title forthcoming from Pushkin this year, we may all hope to see Inoue's work achieve the global readership it so richly deserves -- Ariel Starling Quarterly Conversation A modern Japanese master... Inoue's humane and searching world view is there to be explored and these two novellas reward the effort -- (on Bullfight and The Hunting Gun) Spectator Both of these novellas are delightfully reminiscent of the works of Ryuunosuke Akutagawa... Inoue and Akutagawa were both intellectuals who managed to restrain over-intellectualisation in their writings. They wrote compassionately, but without a hint of sentimentality -- (Praise for Bullfight and The Hunting Gun) Times Literary Supplement Inoue's prose is wonderful - deceptively clear and lucid on the surface, but with sufficient depth and subtlety to make this a very satisfying and meaningful novella JacquiWine's Journal
