In Fond Remembrance of Me - by Howard Norman (Paperback)

About the Book

In this memoir of myth and an uncommon friendship that was sparked while Norman was in Manitoba translating Inuit tales into English, the author writes of his bond with Helen Tanizaki, who became his guide through the stories and customs of the Inuit, and who was fatally ill during their time together.

Book Synopsis

In the fall of 1977, Howard Norman went to Churchill, Manitoba, to translate Inuit folktales, and there he met Helen Tanizaki, an extraordinary linguist translating the same tales into Japanese. In Fond Remembrance of Me recaptures their intimacy, and the remarkable influence that she, and the tales themselves, would have on the future novelist. Through a series of overlapping panels of reality and memory, Norman evokes with vivid immediacy their brief but life-shifting encounter, and the earthy, robust Inuit folklore that occasioned it.

Review Quotes

"Wonderfully written." --The Washington Post

"Quietly powerful...[A] moving and haunting account of an uncommon friendship in the frozen north." --O magazine

"The question of 'appropriation of voice, ' the phenomenon of culture shock and even the basic function of narrative are among the subjects illuminated by this little book. . . . Very touching and human." --The Toronto Star

"Norman's book offers a refreshing simplicity. A-" --Entertainment Weekly

"The book is a lyrical tapestry . . . in which sadness and humor, quick wit, and long reflection are balanced." --The Times Union (Albany)

About the Author

Howard Norman is the author of several novels and a story collection. He lives with his family in Vermont and Washington, D.C.