In Fond Remembrance of Me A Memoir of Myth and Uncommon Friendship in the Arctic

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 Merecaptures 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. Howard Normanis the author of five novels, includingThe Haunting of L.,The Bird Artist, andNorthern Lights. He lives with his family in Vermont and Washington, D.C. Howard Norman spent the fall of 1977 in Churchill, Manitoba, translating into English the "Noah stories" told to him by an Inuit elder. The folktales reveal what happened when the biblical Noah lost his way in the Arctic waters by Hudson Bay. By turns startling, tragic, and comical, these inimitable narratives tell the history of the Arctic and capture the collision of cultures precipitated by the arrival of a hapless stranger in a strange land. Norman himself was then a stranger, but he was not alone. In Churchill he encountered Helen Tanizaki, an Anglo-Japanese woman embarked on a similar project--to translate the tales into Japanese. An extraordinary linguist and an exacting and compelling friend, Tanizaki became Norman's guide through the characters, stories, and customs he was coming to know, and a remarkable intimacy sprang up between them--made all the more intense because it was to be fleeting; Tanizaki was fatally ill. Through a series of overlapping panels of reality and memory, Norman recaptures with vivid immediacy a brief but life-shifting encounter and the earthy, robust stories that occasioned it. "A slim and gracefully written memoir . . . Idiosyncratic, thoughtful books likeIn Fond Remembrance of Mecome along rarely in the world of commercial publishing, and Norman is one of those authors about whom critic Louis Menand recently wrote inThe New Yorker: 'it is more painful to stop reading them than it is to keep going.' His prose has a haunting, easygoing, addictive quality, and the persona he creates for himself in this book is low-key and observant. There is nothing--and everything--to suggest that he will become a novelist of note. He takes a back seat so that [Helen] Tanizaki can shine. 'Don't forget me,' she says as she leaves on the train to Montreal. And we don't."--Barbara Sjoholm,The Seattle Times "The book offers much more than a retelling of an authorial experience in a foreign place . . . it is a beguiling study of how stories blend and reshape themselves depending on the teller and the listener. It's also a heartrending celebration of a seminal friendship that forever changes Norman's journey, not only the trips he makes to Hudson Bay, but for the one that he will eventually make as the author of such novels asThe Bird ArtistandThe Museum Guard. . . In this wonderful book that gives words and stories and friendships real value, Norman does something more than help Helen reincarnate herself--he shares this wonderful life with those of us who will never make the trek to Churchill, Manitoba."--Sharon Dilworth,Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "A slender volume [that] speaks in a quiet voice--but says a great deal. 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."--Philip Marchand,The Toronto Star "Superb . . . [A] moving account of an uncommon friendship and an extraordinary woman . . . Par

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

"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)