The Inugami Mochi

Jessamyn Smyth's linked "Dog and Cecily" stories are about the primacy of the relationship with the animal-familiar spirit, its terrible costs and devastating beauties, the absurd and funny awkwardness of the human species, the relentless deepening of love, the bearing witness to unbearable loss.

These beautiful, unusual stories honor a figure from Japanese folklore, the inugami -- a dog god that acts as a protective guardian. Individuals bonded with this familiar spirit are called inugami mochi; they are thought to be lucky and successful, but as a result of their extraordinary bond with the dog god, they are isolated from ordinary people and the lives they lead.

The follow-on volume "Gilgamesh Wilderness" is also available from Saddle Road Press.

Author: Jessamyn Smyth
Publisher: Saddle Road Press
Published: 02/15/2016
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.44lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.30d
ISBN: 9780996907408

About the Author
Smyth, Jessamyn: - Jessamyn Smyth's books The Inugami Mochi (2016) and Gilgamesh Wilderness (2021) are from Saddle Road Press. A More Perfect Union from The Inugami Mochi was selected as one of the 100 Distinguished Stories of 2005 in Best American Short Stories (2006). Kitsune is from Finishing Line Press New Women's Voices Series (2013). Her poetry and prose have appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Taos Review, Red Rock Review, American Letters and Commentary, Nth Position, Life & Legends, Wingbeats: Exercises and Practices in Poetry, and many other journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of fellowships, scholarships, and grants from the Robert Francis Foundation, Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and others. Jessamyn was the founding Editor in Chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and Founder/Director of the Quest Writer's Conference. She has taught Interdisciplinary Humanities and writing at Bard College Holyoke, Quest University Canada, Middlebury College, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Commonwealth College, The University of Pennsylvania Writer's Conference, and throughout her communities. Her books Koan Garden and Skaha are available on her website: jessamynsmyth.net.