Still in Kushimoto (A Novel)

Warren Decker, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Still in Kushimoto is a novel told from the perspective of a young American man named Zim who finds himself at a campground at the southern tip of Japan’s Honshu Island in the rural town of Kushimoto. He makes a New Year’s resolution to write in a journal in a conscious attempt to find the narrative of his own life. The novel takes the form of present day journal entries, interwoven with recollected past events in alternating chapters. As the story of the past moves forward, towards the end of the novel it merges with the present, but Zim finds himself still stranded in Kushimoto, still within a narrative that feels isolated, incoherent and meaningless. Zim’s narrative only begins to make sense and become meaningful when he begins to tell a story of “we” instead of just “I,” and when he begins to share his life and his story with others.

Subject Area

Creative writing

Recommended Citation

Decker, Warren, "Still in Kushimoto (A Novel)" (2019). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI13882008.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI13882008

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