Under the Eye of the Big Bird

A Novel

By: Hiromi Kawakami, Asa Yoneda - translator

Narrated by: Arthur Keng, Sarah Skaer

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE

From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions an Earth where humans are nearing extinction, and rewrites our understanding of reproduction, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence, communal life, creation, love, and the future of humanity

In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of "Mothers." Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings—but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world.

Unfolding over fourteen interconnected episodes spanning geological eons, at once technical and pastoral, mournful and utopic, Under the Eye of the Big Bird presents an astonishing vision of the end of our species as we know it.

©2016 by Hiromi Kawakami. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2024 by Asa Yoneda.

Critic reviews

"The tag team of Sarah Skaer and Arthur Keng narrates the interconnected episodes in this novel featuring different characters spread throughout thousands of years. Skaer deals particularly with children and mothers, conveying the moods of the children and the patience of the mothers. Keng uses tone, pitch, and pace to distinguish the adult storytellers in the works he presents."—Kirkus Audiobook Reviews

"Speculative, artful . . . [It] sketches out the end of the world while simultaneously positing nearly unthinkable solutions and grappling with fundamental questions about identity, evolution, memory, and individualism . . . A wild take on humanity’s last stand and our flawed understanding of who we are."—Kirkus Reviews

"Haunting . . . Less experimental fiction and more fiction on the human experiment—what kinds of new approaches to mating, community and family will allow people to survive? . . . [Kawakami] finds humor and warmth in the puzzles of existence and extinction."—Hilary Leichter, The New York Times Book Review