Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC copy they provided.
This book… this book. Oh. My. Gods.
The Tatami Time Machine Blues is a ride I don’t fully know how to describe. In the afterward by playwright and director Makoto Ueda, Ueda describes his friend, Morimi’s, “racing, romping pen,” and, “uninhibited style,” and those descriptions are the only adequate things I can think of to introduce you to just what you’re in for if you dare to take the plunge and dive into this book.
Imagine your youth, those long, hot, sluggish summers when you struggled to find something worth doing, but only seemed to end up laying about, or uselessly rambling around with friends that made you question, “What am I doing with these weirdos?” And then picture you, and said weirdos, finding a time machine.
…I’m sure you can imagine the chaos that would ensue, followed by the frantic need to save the time/space continuum from, well, your weirdo friends, yourself, and your own muck ups. Because I don’t know about you, but I for sure would muck up going back in time. I’d bump into something and change the course of history.
The Tatami Time Machine Blues is EXACTLY that story. Written with a wildly “racing, romping pen” and an “uninhibited style” that will leave you breathless. This book is a non-stop race through today and yesterday and today again, with vibrant characters and exquisite imagery that is at once serene and positively hectic. Rather like the book itself.
I was unable to stop reading this delightful tale, and if you’re looking for a good laugh, mixed with some coming of age hijinxs, this is the book for you. The Tatami Time Machine Blues will pick you up and carry you along to a satisfying end that will still leave you wishing for more.
Personally, I’m on the hunt for book one. Because. I. Need. More. If you dare to read, you will too.