Bananamania has returned in an enchanting new novel of uncanny sulbtlety, style, magic, and mystery that Frank Ramirez of the South Bend Tribune declares is "every bit as good as Yoskimoto's first book ... perhaps better." A celebrated Japanese writer has committed suicide, leaving behind a collection of stories written in English, N.P. But the book may never be published in his native Japan: each translator who takes up the ninety-eighth story chooses death too -- including Kazami Kano's boyfriend, Shoji. Haunted by Shoji's death, Kazami is inexorably drawn to three young people whose lives are intimately bound to the late writer and his work. Over the course of an astonishing summer, she will discover the truth behind the ninety-eighth story -- and she will come to believe that "everytking that had happened was shockingly beautiful enough to make you crazy."

吉本芭娜娜（1964－），本名吉本真秀子，生于东京，日本大学艺术系毕业。毕业后一度在餐厅当服务员。1987年以《厨房》获海燕新人文学奖，次年再度以《厨房》获泉镜花文学奖，后陆续获山本周五郎奖、紫式部奖等文学大奖。1993年获意大利SCANO奖。作品畅销，被翻译成多种文字，受世界各地读者关注，掀起“芭娜娜热”。