Description
Description
Four Black Japanese gay men team up against a culture where discrimination is deep-seated and revenge is just a click away. A searing, darkly funny debut from the Akutagawa Prize-winning author. Nobody at the corporate offices of Athletius Japan knows much about the massage therapist Jackson--but rumors abound. He used to work as a model. He likes to party. He's mixed race--half-Japanese, half-somewhere-in-Africa-n. He might be gay. Fueling the gossip is the sudden appearance of a violent pornographic video featuring a man who looks a lot like Jackson. When Jackson serendipitously meets three other queer mixed-race guys, he learns he's not the only one being targeted. Together they concoct a plan: find out who's responsible and, in the meantime, switch identities and play tricks on people--a boyfriend, a boss--who've wronged them, exploiting the fact that nobody can seem to tell them apart. A short, blistering gut punch of a novel, Jackson Alone is at turns satirical and deadpan, angry and tender--a frank exploration of identity, race, queerness, and discrimination in contemporary Japan that announces Jose Ando as a singular new talent in the global literary scene.
About the Author
About the Author
Jose Ando was born and raised in Tokyo, and is of African-Asian heritage. His debut novel, Jackson Alone, was awarded the 59th Bungei Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize, as was his second novel, The Camouflaged Man. His third novel, Dtopia, won the 172nd Akutagawa Prize, solidifying his presence as one of Japan's brightest young literary stars. Kalau Almony is a Japanese-English literary translator based in Kawasaki, Japan. His translations include the work of Fuminori Nakamura, Tahi Saihate, and Shinya Tanaka, and he is a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow. Born and raised in Kailua, Hawai'i, Kalau completed his BA in Comparative Literature at Brown University and MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Praise for Jackson Alone Them Magazine's 10 Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of 2026 "Part seedy, part satire, all bite . . . It's a short read that leaves a scar."
--Japan Times
"By turns funny, tender, and righteously angry, Ando's English debut is a perfect speedy read."
--Them "Heartbreaking, hilarious, and harrowing, Jose Ando's Jackson Alone astounds. Investigating queerness, Blackness, and difference in a vibrant, ever-shifting Tokyo, Ando's novel blends buddy-comedy, whodunit, and cultural excavation into a story about the many different ways we belong (and don't). I've never read anything like Ando's prose--Jackson Alone transcends the form."
--Bryan Washington, author of Palaver and Memorial
"I read every page completely unable to predict what happens next. Jose Ando's Jackson Alone is a subtle thriller brought to daring life by Kalau Almony."
--Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity "The harmony that Jackson Alone finds between a pressing social theme and rhythmic narration filled me with a strange excitement I had never before experienced."
--Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory Police "A unique idea reminiscent of the work of Jordan Peele."
--Amy Yamada, author of Bedtime Eyes
"Jackson Alone depicts characters belonging to multiple minority groups, a presence only now beginning to be recognised in Japanese society and does so with a tremendous perceptiveness rooted in the micro level of everyday experience."
--Keiichiro Hirano, author of A Man "The rhythm of Jose Ando's Jackson Alone is wonderful, as is the richly forceful premise."
--Hiromi Kawakami, author of Strange Weather in Tokyo "Skewering the horrors of corporate work and living with the internet, Jackson Alone is a propulsive exploration of doppelgängers, revenge, obsession and queer community, and how race and desire can become dangerously entangled. Twisty and subversive--I've never read anything like it."
--Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance
"Jackson's strong character appeal drive[s] the unsettling suspense toward a climax heavy with social commentary. A well-crafted literary indictment."
--Booklist
--Japan Times
"By turns funny, tender, and righteously angry, Ando's English debut is a perfect speedy read."
--Them "Heartbreaking, hilarious, and harrowing, Jose Ando's Jackson Alone astounds. Investigating queerness, Blackness, and difference in a vibrant, ever-shifting Tokyo, Ando's novel blends buddy-comedy, whodunit, and cultural excavation into a story about the many different ways we belong (and don't). I've never read anything like Ando's prose--Jackson Alone transcends the form."
--Bryan Washington, author of Palaver and Memorial
"I read every page completely unable to predict what happens next. Jose Ando's Jackson Alone is a subtle thriller brought to daring life by Kalau Almony."
--Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity "The harmony that Jackson Alone finds between a pressing social theme and rhythmic narration filled me with a strange excitement I had never before experienced."
--Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory Police "A unique idea reminiscent of the work of Jordan Peele."
--Amy Yamada, author of Bedtime Eyes
"Jackson Alone depicts characters belonging to multiple minority groups, a presence only now beginning to be recognised in Japanese society and does so with a tremendous perceptiveness rooted in the micro level of everyday experience."
--Keiichiro Hirano, author of A Man "The rhythm of Jose Ando's Jackson Alone is wonderful, as is the richly forceful premise."
--Hiromi Kawakami, author of Strange Weather in Tokyo "Skewering the horrors of corporate work and living with the internet, Jackson Alone is a propulsive exploration of doppelgängers, revenge, obsession and queer community, and how race and desire can become dangerously entangled. Twisty and subversive--I've never read anything like it."
--Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance
"Jackson's strong character appeal drive[s] the unsettling suspense toward a climax heavy with social commentary. A well-crafted literary indictment."
--Booklist
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Soho Crime
Pub date:
2026-01-06
Length:
160 pages
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