How Do You Live?

1st English translation of a childhood favorite of anime master Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle), w/ an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
 
1st published in 1937, Genzaburō Yoshino’s How Do You Live? has long been acknowledged in Japan as a crossover classic for young readers. Academy Award–winning animator Hayao Miyazaki has called it his favorite childhood book & announced plans to emerge from retirement to make it the basis of a final film. 
 
How Do You Live? is narrated in 2 voices. The first belongs to Copper, 15, who after the death of his father must confront inevitable & enormous change, including his own betrayal of his best friend. In between episodes of Copper’s emerging story, his uncle writes to him in a journal, sharing knowledge & offering advice on life’s big questions as Copper begins to encounter them. Over the course of the story, Copper, like his namesake Copernicus, looks to the stars, & uses his discoveries about the heavens, earth, & human nature to answer the question of how he will live.
 
This 1st-ever English-language translation of a Japanese classic about finding one’s place in a world both infinitely large & unimaginably small is perfect for readers of philosophical fiction like The Alchemist & The Little Prince, as well as Miyazaki fans eager to understand one of his most important influences.

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Genzaburō Yoshino (1899-1981) was a Japanese writer & publisher. In 1935, he became director of a collection of educational books for young people. When the acclaimed writer Yūzō Yamamoto was unable to complete a book on ethics as part of the series, Yoshino stepped in & wrote How Do You Live?. Since its debut as a novel & guide to philosophy for young people, How Do You Live? has sold more than 2 mil. copies, & been re-edited & republished more than 80 times to reflect the changing times & culture in Japan