Tokyo, oggi. Kiyose, la giovane donna che racconta la storia in prima persona, viene a sapere che Takashi, un suo caro amico bisessuale con il quale aveva avuto una relazione, č sieropositivo. La notizia sconvolge il piccolo cerchio di amici di cui fanno parte anche Mimi, l'attuale compagna di Takashi, e Hideo, un giovane gay che a sua volta ne era stato l'amante. Hideo e Kiyose si convincono a fare il test, il cui esito si saprą non prima di due settimane. Per sfuggire all'intollerabile attesa, gli amici decidono di realizzare un vecchio sogno: visitare insieme l'Egitto. Il viaggio, intenso e a tratti rarefatto, prevede come ultima tappa Roma, che riserva loro l'incanto degli attimi che si sanno irripetibili.

When Mona, a young Arab-American girl, journeys with her father to the Middle East to meet her grandmother, she discovers that they share the universal bonds of family love

I shall refer to her as Lizard here, but not because of the small lizard tattoo that I discovered on her inner thigh.

The woman has round, black eyes that gaze at you with utter detachment, like the eyes of a reptile. Every bend and curve of her small body is cool to the touch, so cool that I want to scoop her up in my two hands.

This may bring to mind the image of a man holding a bunny or a chick, but that's not what I mean. What I imagine is the strange, tickling sensation of sharp claws scampering around in my palms. And then, when I open up my hands to take a peek, a thin, red tongue lashes out. Reflected in those glassy eyes, I see my own lonely face, peering down, looking for something to love and cherish. That's what Lizard feels like to me....

Sei racconti nei quali i protagonisti lottano per venire a patti con un profondo malessere spiritule. Al tema della morte, sempre ricorrente nei libri della Yoshimoto, si affianca una tematica gią accennata ma mai pienamente sviluppata prima: quella di un danno primario, una ferita spesso ricevuta durante l'infanzia, che compromette gravemente la felicitą o addirittura la salute mentale delle persone. La soluzione agli stati di malessere descritti nel libro č quasi sempre di tipo fantastico, un intervento extra sensoriale che scioglie in modo catartico situazioni apparentemente inestricabili.

Rhyme follows rhyme as layer after layer of winter clothing ('bunchy and hot, wrinkled a lot, stiff in the knee, and too big for me!') is first put on and then taken off to the relief of the child bundled inside. Clever rebuses and jaunty illustrations make The Jacket I Wear in the Snow especially fun for prereaders and new readers.

When Mona, a young Arab-American girl, journeys with her father to the Middle East to meet her grandmother, Sitti, for the first time, she discovers that, despite the differences in their lives, they share the universal bonds of family love.

'She's all my fancy painted her, she's lovely, she is light. She waltzes on the waves by day and rests with me at night. But I had nothing to do with her painting. The man who built her did that. And I commence with the canoe because that is about the first thing you need on entering the Northern Wilderness.'
Thus opened Nessmuk's first commissioned 'letter' for Forest and Stream in 1880. For years thereafter, George Washington Sears, under the penname Nessmuk, contributed a glorious series of pieces on canoeing the Adirondacks, exploring rivers and streams, climbing the many mountains and peaks, and chronicling his long relationship with one of the greatest canoe builders, J. Henry Rushton.