WWII Novel Tour: Boston Leg

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Vertical’s first American novelist, Michael Dana Kennedy, continues to grace high-profile stages with a hometown appearance courtesy of the Japan Society of Boston set for Monday evening (Nov. 8). If you wish to register for the event, which is free and open to the public, please RSVP through the society’s website.

Lisa Mullins, anchor of PRI’s The World, the celebrated radio program based out of the city, will also be taping an interview with the author this week for broadcast. Click here to see what The Boston Globe has to report about the author.

Earlier this year, Kennedy spoke by invitation at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and the National Museum of the Pacific War (a.k.a. the Nimitz Museum) in Fredericksburg, TX. The Flowers of Edo, his debut novel, chronicles a Japanese-American lieutenant’s desperate espionage mission to his ancestral homeland in the final days of World War II.

In the words of James Fallows, regular contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, the novel is “a gripping combination of military action and cultural analysis, which offers a unique and provocative perspective on the history that was—and might have been—between Japan and the United States. This is a valuable addition to the literature of understanding how the two nations faced their opposite prospects at the end of a brutal war.”

Don’t miss this appearance by a dynamic speaker and inspired writer.

November 8, 2010 (Monday) 7 pm – 8 pm
Location:
Showa Women’s University
420 Pond Street
Boston, MA 02130
Directions: http://www.us-japan.org/boston/Directions
Phone: (617) 451-0726

The Costs of War

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Anyone who has taken a bit of world history knows how the War in the Pacific concluded: following an executive order by President Harry Truman, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But before Fat Man and Little Boy, General Douglas MacArthur had devised a plan to invade the Japanese archipelago. Operation Downfall would have been the largest amphibious invasion in history, with estimated casualties reaching seven figures.

In Michael Dana Kennedy’s debut novel The Flowers of Edo, readers get inside Operation Downfall like never before through the eyes of a new American hero, Ken Kobayashi. The young Japanese-American intelligence officer, understanding the costs of war, volunteers to infiltrate the Imperial Japanese Army to collect the intel needed to reduce the loss of life on both sides. In this dramatic tale recounting the final days of World War II, Kennedy takes readers into war room meetings as the Allied forces present their campaign to invade Japan. As we follow Lt. Kobayashi across Japan, we witness a Japanese landscape decimated by fire bombings as the Land of the Rising Sun continues to maintain its war machine in a lost cause.

Kennedy reminds readers of the human element that is always on the frontlines. As he presents so vividly in this meticulously researched novel, there is a story behind every soldier, sailor, airman and marine. Those who have read the book agree: such a story, even when tragic, can be a thing of beauty.

“Sure to fascinate all who are interested in the lives of those who experienced the conflict between Japan and the United States in the mid-20th century.”
—Annette Gordon-Reed, Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in History

“The struggle of a soldier’s courage and loyalty to country is at the core of Michael Dana Kennedy’s debut novel. The Flowers of Edo embraces not only the significant historical context but the rich cultural intricacies like few historical novels.”
—James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our Fathers

“An excellent book! The Flowers of Edo is a gripping historical novel focused on the final months of WWII, with an authentic Japanese setting and an intriguing plot. Both entertaining and educational…a delightful adventure and experience!”
—Admiral James R. Hogg, U.S. Navy (retired) Commander Seventh Fleet (1983-85)