Loosely based upon photographs of Occupied Japan, THE BOOK OF THE FLOATING WORLD ranges across a war-ravaged landscape, from a shattered Tokyo to scenes of a depleted countryside, with a close examination of the lives constructed out of that ruin. THE BOOK OF THE FLOATING WORLD explores the photographed moment-and poetry-as a peculiar and arresting instance of witness. Threaded throughout this collection is a set of interrelated meditations upon history, violence, war, memory, and art itself.

First published in 2004, THE BOOK OF THE FLOATING WORLD is offered here in a new edition, complete...