Questions 27 & 28

“Most of us understand that history is often just the victor’s account of how things happened. But the novel’s achievement is that we are forced to experience this insight almost bodily. We feel the weight of the past, all these accumulated voices and perspectives, within and between Yamashita’s novels, as well as the process through which disparate stories, anecdotes, or experiences might coalesce as history.”–Hua Hsu, The New Yorker

”[An] ambitious, wide-ranging pastiche of fiction and documentation, a hybrid novel that also serves as an idiosyncratic history of the Japanese experience in America before, during and after the war.”–Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review

“Karen Tei Yamashita is one of the preeminent voices of Asian American literature.”–Naomi Ellis, The Nation

“Karen Tei Yamashita deserves to be a literary household name.”–Adam Morgan, Esquire’s “Best Books of 2026”

“A provocative symphony.”–Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times

“Yamashita, a storyteller of the first order, is having a bit of fun, often a lot of fun, with her subjects. In one chapter, she imagines two heroes of the Japanese American reparations movement discussing historic civil rights cases in the afterlife; in another, we hear the story of Harry Kitano, a pioneering social scientist and U.C.L.A. professor, narrated by his trombone.”–Robert Ito, The New York Times Book Review

“With Questions 27 & 28, Yamashita is not just seeking to interpret the loyalty debate, and perhaps the experience of internment, by writing fiction about it. She is also challenging her readers to do the interpreting themselves–to join her in deciphering history… . In order to read Questions 27 & 28, you have to commit, if only for the length of the novel, to the messy project of American history.”–Lily Meyer, The Atlantic

“In this innovative polyphonic novel, Yamashita blends archival documents with fictional flourishes… . The result is a powerful and lively novel that documents the turmoil endured by internees while raising enduring questions about identity, loyalty, and citizenship.”–Publishers Weekly

“Yamashita’s archival research is astonishing, weighted with polyphonic density … yet Yamashita ensures this is no database by quoting and extrapolating records, transcribing and elaborating conversations, and recording and inventing details to create extraordinary testimonies to injustice and resilience.”–Terry Hong, Booklist, starred review

“An ambitious novel that spans many forms, ably crossing oceans and centuries.”–Kirkus Reviews

”[Questions 27 & 28] reveals a concealed corner of American history with depth and nuance.”–Alta Journal

“For all of the book’s seriousness of subject matter, this persistent bent toward the whimsical is one of its most unexpected and refreshing qualities… . [An] exhilarating trip through the archival record, filled out by Yamashita’s imagination.”–Jules Fitz Gerald, Colorado Review

“Now, at this very moment, our government is rounding people up, imprisoning and deporting them–immigrants, refugees, students, workers with legal visas. They are denied due process as the Constitution is being flouted. It is crucial that we read Questions 27 & 28 by Karen Tei Yamashita. Learning what happened not that long ago to American citizens may help us know what actions to take now, legally, politically, heroically.”–Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior and I Love a Broad Margin to My Life

“With Questions 27 & 28, Karen Tei Yamashita expands the boundaries of the novel, achieving a polyvocal and multimodal environment within the act of engaged reading the work elicits. Questions 27 & 28 challenges the unconscionable incarceration of Japanese Americans with an intricate and intimate testament to the courage, dignity, and creativity of those who dared the alchemy of identity and the integrity of belonging.”–Earl Jackson, Professor Emeritus, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

Karen Tei Yamashita is the author of nine books, including I Hotel, finalist for the National Book Award. A recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, she is Professor Emerita of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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