If Cats Disappeared from the World
by Genki Kawamura, Eric Selland (Translated by)

The international phenomenon that has sold more than 1.3 million copies in Japan, If Cats Disappeared from the World is a funny, charming, and thoughtful exploration on the meaning of life.

A young postman is diagnosed with advanced-stage cancer and learns he doesn’t have long to live. He goes home to sulk with his cat, Cabbage, whom he inherited after his mother’s death. There he’s greeted by his doppelganger, who’s dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, goes by the name of Aloha, and claims he is the devil. Aloha offers the postman a deal: He will grant the postman one extra day of life, but in exchange the devil gets to banish one thing from earth forever. The first day, in exchange for an extra day of life Aloha gets rid of telephones, then movies, followed by watches. With each object that disappears, the postman reflects on the life he’s lived, his joys, regrets, disappointments, and the people he’s loved and lost. On the fourth day when Aloha announces that he’s going to make cats disappear from the face of the earth forever, the postman hesitates. Is he willing to rid the world of cats in exchange for one more day of life?

A remarkably original tale, If Cats Disappeared from the World is a quirky and charming homily on the true meaning of life and a thoughtful exploration of what matters most in a complex and shifting world.