Sequoia Nagamatsu

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Sequoia Nagamatsu

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
January 19, 1982

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Influences
Haruki Murakami, Kelly Link, Italo Calvino, J.G. Ballard, Jonathan Let ...more

Member Since
October 2010

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SEQUOIA NAGAMATSU is the author of the National Bestselling novel, HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK (2022), a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and the story collection, WHERE WE GO WHEN ALL WE WERE IS GONE (2016). His work has appeared in publications such as Conjunctions, The Southern Review, ZYZZYVA, Tin House, Iowa Review, Lightspeed Magazine, and One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, and has been listed as notable in Best American Non-Required Reading and the Best Horror of the Year.

Other honors include a fellowship from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and shortlist inclusions for The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Ursula K Le Guin Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, as well as long list inclusions for the Andrew C
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Sequoia Nagamatsu Well, to some degree I don't really believe in writer's block. Writing will always be a journey of peaks and valleys. And those "low points" are often…moreWell, to some degree I don't really believe in writer's block. Writing will always be a journey of peaks and valleys. And those "low points" are often important periods for reflection, reading, and gaining perspective on what you've already done. When I'm in a valley, I read a lot. I watch films. And I work on other writing projects. (less)
Sequoia Nagamatsu I get to marry my imagination with the complexities of reality in a way that I hope illuminates universal/cultural/individual tensions for myself and …moreI get to marry my imagination with the complexities of reality in a way that I hope illuminates universal/cultural/individual tensions for myself and others. I have a background in anthropology, and writing has definitely fed this passion of trying to deconstruct identity, place, and community. Real talk: I get to surf YouTube and TVtropes.org and call it "research". (less)
Average rating: 3.82 · 71,030 ratings · 12,125 reviews · 12 distinct worksSimilar authors
How High We Go in the Dark

3.82 avg rating — 68,882 ratings — published 2022 — 37 editions
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Where We Go When All We Wer...

3.72 avg rating — 1,464 ratings — published 2016 — 13 editions
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One World: A Global Antholo...

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3.97 avg rating — 677 ratings — published 2009 — 7 editions
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Lightspeed Magazine, Januar...

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3.56 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2012
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Pig Son

4.58 avg rating — 31 ratings
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Fairy Tale Review, The Mauv...

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4.08 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions
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Lightspeed Magazine, Issue ...

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions
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The Songs of Your Decay (A ...

4.63 avg rating — 8 ratings
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Bat City Review

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Girl Zero

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015
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More books by Sequoia Nagamatsu…

Summer Giveaway begins July 4th

Win a signed copy of Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone, stories inspired by Japanese folklore and pop culture.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

“Sequoia Nagamatsu’s universe is one in which modern Japan and its ancient folklore play in the same delightful puddle. Creepy, unnerving, and full of heart, these tales of love and demons, death and Godzilla, loss and possibility, will creep into Read more of this blog post »
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Published on June 27, 2016 05:43 Tags: fabulism, fiction, giveaway, japan, magical-realism, story-collection

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The Actual Star
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Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Wild Dark Shore
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Waterline by Aram Mrjoian
Waterline
by Aram Mrjoian (Goodreads Author)
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This book may nod at the Armenian Genocide, but perhaps more notably this book takes the history of this event, the tales, pain, and truth of a patriarch who swam toward freedom and another life and embraces the waves and ripples from a swim toward s ...more
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
"I have never enjoyed a short story collection until now. And I didn't just enjoy it. I ADORED it.

I talked everyone's ear off about this for a week while reading it. I begged other's to read it. As I'm begging you to read it. It's truly phenomenal.

Wa" Read more of this review »
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In Universes by Emet North
In Universes
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What Grows in the Dark by Jaq Evans
What Grows in the Dark
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We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler
We Lived on the Horizon
by Erika Swyler (Goodreads Author)
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Kaleidoscopic and incisive in its themes, We Lived on the Horizon detonates the imperfect symbiosis between A.I. and what it means to be human. From class warfare and systems of oppression to reflections on gender and inherited privilege, Swyler burr ...more
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Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
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Quotes by Sequoia Nagamatsu  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“I saw a civilization that could destroy itself before it even reached the nearest star.”
Sequoia Nagamatsu, How High We Go in the Dark

“Opportunities are like little seeds floating in the wind. Your life is there. Some people have a big net to collect them all. Other people need to pray that the right seeds, the best ones, make their way to them with just enough bad ones to appreciate the good.”
Sequoia Nagamatsu, How High We Go in the Dark

“People have forgotten how to care for each other, for themselves. We can’t expect them to care about the world if they don’t care about what’s in front of them,”
Sequoia Nagamatsu, How High We Go in the Dark

Polls

What book would you like to read for our October 2022 Group Read? The theme is Moon.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Classic, Mystery, Victorian
 
  21 votes 22.3%

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Urban Fantasy, Middle Grade
 
  16 votes 17.0%

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
YA Fantasy, Mythology, Romance
 
  13 votes 13.8%

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
YA Fantasy, Contemporary, Tearjerker
 
  9 votes 9.6%

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
YA Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Fairy Tale Retelling
 
  8 votes 8.5%

The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis
Mystery, Magical Realism, Family
 
  7 votes 7.4%

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
Magical Realism, Small Town Romance
 
  7 votes 7.4%

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Plaque
 
  6 votes 6.4%

Moon Above, Moon Below by William Peter Grasso
Historical Fiction, WW2, Adventure
 
  4 votes 4.3%

The Oceanography of the Moon by Glendy Vanderah
Contemporary Romance, Magical Realism
 
  3 votes 3.2%

94 total votes
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“Let us suppose that someone is writing a story. From the world of conventional signs he takes an azalea bush, plants it in a pleasant park. He takes a gold pocket watch from the world of conventional signs and places it under the azalea bush. He takes from the same rich source a handsome thief and a chastity belt, places the thief in the chastity belt and lays him tenderly under the azalea, not neglecting to wind the gold pocket watch so that its ticking will, at length, awaken the now-sleeping thief. From the Sarah Lawrence campus he borrows a pair of seniors, Jacqueline and Jemima, and sets them to walking in the vicinity of the azalea bush and the handsome, chaste thief. Jacqueline and Jemima have just failed the Graduate Record Examination and are cursing God in colorful Sarah Lawrence language. What happens next? Of course, I don't know.”
Donald Barthelme, Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme

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