Yokohama, California (Classics of Asian American Literature)

Mori's superbly structured short stories are . . . tender, evocative episodes of growing up as a Japanese American prior to World War II.

Mori is unafraid to let the humanity of his characters and himself shine through bravely.

A unique record of Japanese American life in Northern California in the decades just before World War II.

Originally published in 1949, these twenty-two stories present subtle glimpses into the lives of Japanese-Americans in their neighborhood in Oakland, California, aka 'Yokohama.' Mori has a delicate touch, and the stories have more than a passing resemblance to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio (1919).

Toshio Mori (1910-1980) was born in Oakland, California. During World War II, he was interned, with his family, at the Topaz Relocation Center in Utah, where he served as camp historian. Xiaojing Zhou is professor of English at the University of the Pacific and author of Cities of Others: Reimagining Urban Spaces in Asian American Literature.