I moved to the next shelf.
Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfictionby Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola.In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction.The New New Journalismedited by Robert Boynton.
"He got the books on my list and then others too," I whispered to myself.
The next section made my throat tighten.
Sex industry research. The books I'd been trying to track down for months, some of them out of print or difficult to find in English.
Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Workby Melissa Gira Grant.
Paying for Itby Chester Brown—a graphic memoir I'd been dying to read.
Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industryedited by Frédérique Delacoste and Priscilla Alexander.
And then—oh God—Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubsby Joan Sinclair. I'd been searching for this book for over a year. It was rare, expensive, nearly impossible to find.
I pulled it off the shelf with shaking hands.
The book was pristine.
A first edition.
And tucked inside the front cover was a small note in elegant handwriting:
For the Tiger's research. —J.S.
My vision blurred with tears.
So. . .somebody just. . .went to the author’s house, told them what it was for, and got the book? Jesus Christ! This is. . .amazing.
I blinked rapidly and kept moving along the shelves, unable to stop myself.
There was an entire section on investigative journalism:All the President's Men,The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,and Bad Bloodby John Carreyrou. Books about how to chase a story, how to verify sources, how to write truth that people didn't want told.
Another section on memoir craft specifically:Know My Nameby Chanel Miller,Educatedby Tara Westover,The Liars' Clubby Mary Karr,When Breath Becomes Airby Paul Kalanithi.
I pulled outKnow My Name, holding it to my chest.
These weren't just books.
They were a blueprint.
A roadmap.
Books that had given me the permission to tell the stories that mattered.
The next shelf held books on Japanese culture and history—context I'd need for both projects.Geisha: A Lifeby Mineko Iwasaki.Tokyo Viceby Jake Adelstein.The Chrysanthemum and the Swordby Ruth Benedict.
And at the very end, tucked into the corner like a secret:Writing Down the Bonesby Natalie Goldberg andIf You Want to Writeby Brenda Ueland—two books about the spiritual practice of writing, about trusting your voice, about not being afraid.
I sank into the chair at my desk, surrounded by hundreds—maybe thousands—of dollars worth of books. Books that someone had carefully selected, ordered, shipped across the world in a matter of days.
Books that said. . .
Kenji believes your work matters. Your voice matters. Here are the tools you need.
I found a letter on the third shelf and read it.
