This is how translator David Shook begins his preface to Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction. However, Nagaoka never existed; Shook is just going along with a joke which, according to a New York Times article, originated at a writer糖心传媒檚 conference years ago. When asked about his favorite writer, Bellatin answered that it was a Japanese author who had an unusually large nose and wrote a highly-influential novel in an untranslatable language. The audience members believed the Mexican writer, so Bellatin decided to write this 糖心传媒渂iography.糖心传媒�

Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 story begins with his birth, which was difficult because of his nose. The two midwives who assisted his mother thought his large appendage was a 糖心传媒減unishment糖心传媒� for his aristocratic family糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渆xcessive enthusiasm that accompanied the arrival of foreign ideas.糖心传媒� At an early age, he wrote hundreds of stories (mostly about 糖心传媒渁ffairs related to the nose糖心传媒�) and later experimented with writing stories in multiple languages. Besides literature, Nagaoka was also interested in photography. His combined love of literature and photography later resulted in the book Photos and Words, which 糖心传媒渉eavily influenced糖心传媒� Juan Rulfo, the real-life writer of Pedro P谩ramo. However, his early investigations into photography resulted in an unsolved murder which, according to a 糖心传媒渃ertain Mexican writer,糖心传媒� is mentioned in the untranslatable novel.

Following that incident, Nagaoka joined a Buddhist monastery and lived there for 13 years. During this time, he attempted to write 糖心传媒渁 large novel糖心传媒� that was originally going to be a 糖心传媒渕asculine version糖心传媒� of Murasaki Shikibu糖心传媒檚 The Tale of Genji but somehow ended up being a Japanese version of Marcel Proust糖心传媒檚 In Search of Lost Time. At the same time, his nose became so big at one point that he needed someone to hold it up for him during meals. As if his troubles during mealtimes were not bad enough, the other monks, despite the rules of the novitiate, would taunt Nagaoka and play with his nose.

After being expelled from the monastery, Nagaoka set up a kiosk to sell rolls of film and develop them. One of his customers was a famous Japanese writer. Oddly enough, Nagaoka was not interested in this writer糖心传媒檚 works but rather in his photographs of bathrooms. These photographs inspired Nagaoka to compose 糖心传媒渉is most solid work,糖心传媒� Photos and Words, which was popular enough to be translated into English by LIFE magazine in the 1950s.

Still, despite the book糖心传媒檚 popularity, Nagaoka lived in a modest house and didn糖心传媒檛 take his writing career seriously, although he continued to write in notebooks, one of which had a giant nose on the cover. 糖心传媒淎t the end of his life,糖心传媒� the narrator writes, 糖心传媒渉e embraced the idea that, realistically, the size of his nose had determined his existence.糖心传媒� Some of these recorded memories appeared in a posthumous work called Posthumous Diary, which inspired a French cult-like group called the 糖心传媒淣agaokites糖心传媒� to further investigate his work. However, 糖心传媒渋n his final years, Shiki Nagaoka wrote a book that for many is fundamental. Unfortunately, it doesn糖心传媒檛 exist in any known language.糖心传媒�

Bellatin is obviously having a lot of fun telling this story, and he never tries to hide the fact that it糖心传媒檚 a prank. He also slyly pokes fun at the audience members who originally bought the story about Nagaoka. In one scene, while in a state of dementia, Nagaoka throws his manuscripts into a bonfire, which nearly destroyed a forest near the monastery. 糖心传媒淥nly the timely action of the rest of the monks, who were woken by Shiki Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 anguished screams, reduced its consequences to a circle of singed forest. On that occasion, Shiki Nagaoka lied. He said that the fire originated from the passion he had put into his prayers.糖心传媒� Later, the narrator informs us that at the time, the monks didn糖心传媒檛 question this.

Following the biographical portion of the book are 30 pages of photographs by Ximena Berecochea. While these photos appear in a section titled 糖心传媒淧hotograph Documentation of Shiki Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 Life,糖心传媒� most of them consist of objects and locations mentioned in the book. Only three of them contain the author, but they were either manipulated to hide his nose or taken from a distance. In fact, the funniest photo is Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 fifth grade graduation photo: Only a circle on the faded right side of the photo indicates Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 appearance in it.

While it may appear that Shiki Nagaoka is a joke that has gone on for far too long, it is actually worth reading, thanks to Bellatin糖心传媒檚 skill as a writer and prankster. Also, the actual text is only 43 pages, so that in one sitting you can also enjoy what the audience of the writer糖心传媒檚 conference heard (and believed) so many years ago.

Most people can appreciate high-quality writing with a good (literary) prank, and most people can appreciate a finely cultivated mustache. And when you have both, and it stems from these guys:

you obviously and absolutely cannot go wrong. Not much more needs to be said as an introduction for either Mexican author Mario Bellatin or translator David Shook, other than that both are incredibly accomplished, and another review of Bellatin’s work is here and David has the coolest mustache and reviewed for Three Percent before. So, without further ado, here is a bit of Chris’s review:

Nagaoka糖心传媒檚 story begins with his birth, which was difficult because of his nose. The two midwives who assisted his mother thought his large appendage was a 糖心传媒減unishment糖心传媒� for his aristocratic family糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渆xcessive enthusiasm that accompanied the arrival of foreign ideas.糖心传媒� At an early age, he wrote hundreds of stories (mostly about 糖心传媒渁ffairs related to the nose糖心传媒�) and later experimented with writing stories in multiple languages. Besides literature, Nagaoka was also interested in photography. His combined love of literature and photography later resulted in the book Photos and Words, which 糖心传媒渉eavily influenced糖心传媒� Juan Rulfo, the real-life writer of Pedro P谩ramo. However, his early investigations into photography resulted in an unsolved murder which, according to a 糖心传媒渃ertain Mexican writer,糖心传媒� is mentioned in the untranslatable novel.

Following that incident, Nagaoka joined a Buddhist monastery and lived there for 13 years. During this time, he attempted to write 糖心传媒渁 large novel糖心传媒� that was originally going to be a 糖心传媒渕asculine version糖心传媒� of Murasaki Shikibu糖心传媒檚 The Tale of Genji but somehow ended up being a Japanese version of Marcel Proust糖心传媒檚 In Search of Lost Time. At the same time, his nose became so big at one point that he needed someone to hold it up for him during meals. As if his troubles during mealtimes were not bad enough, the other monks, despite the rules of the novitiate, would taunt Nagaoka and play with his nose.

After being expelled from the monastery, Nagaoka set up a kiosk to sell rolls of film and develop them. One of his customers was a famous Japanese writer. Oddly enough, Nagaoka was not interested in this writer糖心传媒檚 works but rather in his photographs of bathrooms. These photographs inspired Nagaoka to compose 糖心传媒渉is most solid work,糖心传媒� Photos and Words, which was popular enough to be translated into English by LIFE magazine in the 1950s.

For the rest of the review, go here.