The 10th century Tosa Diary, read in the laundromat. If written by a man, the putative author Tsurayuki, it is marvelous excercise in point of view, since it is narrated by a woman in Tsurayuki's entourage, perhaps his wife. If written by a woman and simply attributed to Tsurayuki, it is no less marvelous. The poems in the book are attributed to various fictional characters, including the female narrator, several children, and poets of varying levels of skill. Should we think of them as real children's poems, (essentially found poems) or as poems written by the author in a deliberately naive style? Then the book becomes a sort of ars poetica. The poems said to be written by incompetent or immature poets are there as negative examples, yet at the same time are highly effective as dramatic outpourings of naive feelings. The narrator, returning with Tsurayuki's party after the latter's term as provincial government has expired, has lost her child, a child born in the capital. Her poems of grief are quite affecting. Why should I weep for a 10th century Japanese child? It's too bad the translator of this work did not collaborate with a poet... The prose parts work well, but the poetry is not translated effectively, although some of the poems are supposed to sound bad.