Dream Messenger — Masahiko Shimada

Tokyo, New York, and uncharted territory of the imagination provide the setting for this remarkable, kaleidoscopic novel of life in the postmodern age. Start with an eccentric heiress in search of a son missing for twenty-five years. Add a detective team of beauty queen-turned-stock analyst and neurotic writer-turned-houseboy. Toss in a latter-day Fagin winsomely raising his orphans to be rented to needy adults; season with a gay man from New York with Oriental tastes. Combine with experience, speculation, and dreams. Then top off with Matthew, handsome, telepathic, free from convention, heredity, and home. Matthew is the dream messenger. He visits people's dreams, bringing comfort and wisdom to the troubled; in his own dreams he finds companionship and peace. In waking hours, he is a professional friend, offering love to women and men who will pay. But Matthew is no ordinary hustler; he is a purveyor of truths unencumbered by parents, society, and nations. Contrary to popular assumptions, such truths transcend their purchase by money. Mixing fantasy with harsh fact, tantalizing with its intellect and sexuality, Dream Messenger introduces to the West a truly fresh, bold, international voice from Japan.