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David Joiner

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cincinnati, The United States

Website

http://www.david-joiner.com

Genre

Fiction, Memoir, Nonfiction

Influences

Yasunari Kawabata, Natsume Soseki, Junichiro Tanizaki, Yukio Mishima, ...more

Member Since

February 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/davidjoiner

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David Joiner is the 2024 International Rubery Book Award Winner in Fiction for his novel The Heron Catchers, published by Stone Bridge Press in late 2023. The novel is the second in a planned series of novels set in Ishikawa prefecture, and was also a finalist in the 2023 American Writing Awards, the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and the 2023 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award. In January 2022, Stone Bridge Press also published his second novel, Kanazawa, which was a finalist for the 2022 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award. His debut novel Lotusland, originally published in 2015 by Guernica Editions, was re-issued in a revised edition in early 2025.

David first came to Asia in 1991 on a five-month study program in Sapporo, ...more

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Combine Editions
David Joiner’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 250 ratings · 87 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Kanazawa 3.96 avg rating — 135 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lotusland by David Joiner (Goodreads Author), Liam C Kelley (foreword), Le Ha Phan (foreword) 4.31 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2015 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Heron Catchers 4.26 avg rating — 50 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stray Cat City 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

53 posts
David Joiner's Blog

Japan Writers Panel, MinkaCon 2025

I've just uploaded a YouTube video of MinkaCon 2025 in Aichi prefecture. In the video, I read from The Heron Catchers, followed by readings by my fellow panelists Everett Kennedy Brown and Azby Brown.

https://www.goodreads.com/videos/2247...

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 11, 2025 21:26 • Tags: and-tradition, architecture, japan, rural-life

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David and 1 other person liked Milo Le's review of Water: a Chronicle: "Very poignant striking prose but the mix of folklore and contemporary stories was either not translated well or just the author being very vague and chaotic. Short stories are hard to pull off well as they have to evoke a certain feeling in a few sho" Read more of this review »
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Having read this while traveling through Vietnam, and specifically while being in Saigon, I found these essays fascinating for the insights they offered on southern Vietnamese life and culture and refreshing for their focus on aspects of the region t ...more
Feb 09, 2026 07:06PM · 3 likes · like · see review
David and 9 other people liked Samuel Gordon's review of A Domestic Animal: "Not at all what you'd expect from a novel written in the late 60s. Also loved reading about the libel lawsuit that financially ruined the author because of this book. I think this has to be the 2nd best King book I've read thus far after To The Dark " Read more of this review »
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David has read Lotusland by David Joiner (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I just happened to re-read Lotusland the other day. It was better than I remembered! (Always a relief as an author...)
Jan 28, 2026 11:32PM · 10 likes · like · see review
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