#57: No-No Novel

In 1956, John Okada wrote the first Japanese-American novel, No-No Boy, a story about a Nisei draft-resister who returns home to Seattle after years in prison. It should have been a sensation: American literature had seen nothing like it before. But the book went of print, Okada never published again, and the writer died in obscurity in 1971. That would have been the end of the story, were it not for a band of Asian-American writers in 1970s California who stumbled upon the landmark novel in a used bookshop. Frank Abe, one of the co-editors of a new book about Okada—and a friend to the “CARP boys” who discovered him—joins us to talk about the era in which No-No Boy was written and what the novel can teach us about our own moment in history.Go beyond the episode:John Okada: The Life and Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No BoyNo-No Boy by John OkadaWatch Frank Abe’s film about the Japanese-American draft resisters, Conscience and the Constitution An incomplete list of the best literature about the hyphenated American experience:Americanah by Chimamamda Ngozi AdichieThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael ChabonThe House on Mango Street by Sandra CisnerosBreath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge DanticatMiddlesex by Jeffrey EugenidesThe Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin HamidThe Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong KingstonThe Comfort Women by Nora Okja KellerLucy by Jamaica KincaidInterpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa LahiriNative Speaker by Chang-Rae LeeThe Sympathizer by Viet Thanh NguyenThe Joy Luck Club by Amy TanDo Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (close enough!)Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.