Summary

Mu (Nothingness)

Smith watched detective shows and lamented her lost coat. She tried to draw an island from her dream and went to a Japanese restaurant. Sitting before her atlas, she decided to book a flight to Tokyo. She would meet her friends, one of them a film maker, and visit famous writers’ graves. She also contacted her Japanese publisher and wrote to her friend who was working on earthquake disaster relief. She read Camus in Café ‘Ino and dreamed of going with Detective Holder to a waste dump, which she compares to a crime scene. While searching for her coat, she remembers serving Katharine Hepburn in a bookstore and reflects that she has come to understand her better, becoming one with her. She chose books by Dazai and Akutagawa to take on her trip.

Snow was falling in...