Search  for anything...
NA

Under the Eye of the Big Bird: A Novel

  • Based on 492 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for the best price...
$21.96 Why this price?
Save $5.04 was $27.00

Buy Now, Pay Later

As low as $5 / mo
  • – 4-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.

Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayTomorrow. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Free shipping on this product

FREE 30-day refund/replacement

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

Availability: Only 4 left in stock, order soon!
Fulfilled by Amazon
Arrives Sunday, Oct 12
Order within 4 hours and 27 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Recently Viewed

Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions an Earth where humans are nearing extinction, and rewrites our understanding of reproduction, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence, communal life, creation, love, and the future of humanity In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of "Mothers." Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings--but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world. Unfolding over fourteen interconnected episodes spanning geological eons, at once technical and pastoral, mournful and utopic, Under the Eye of the Big Bird presents an astonishing vision of the end of our species as we know it. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Soft Skull


Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 3, 2024


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593766114


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 15


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.79 x 0.94 x 8.54 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #305,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #92 in Science Fiction Short Stories #419 in Dystopian Fiction (Books) #514 in Science Fiction Crime & Mystery


#92 in Science Fiction Short Stories:


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, Oct 12

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • Brilliant
Format: Hardcover
Short stories? Actually, a novel: told from the point of view of many different characters, each of whom barely comprehends the glimpses of the strange world they live in. Out of the confusion, eventually the reader makes out the contours of a world. There is no hero or anti-hero, no individual or event is especially important. What is important is: life, and how it evolves and mutates. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2025 by K. Ralske
    • The future is empty
Format: Paperback
Picked up a book on whim. Under the Eye of the Big Bird. By Hiromi Kawakami. It’s like Faulkner writing dystopian futures. Cold and impartial and humans without souls. You read forward to find backward. Things don’t make sense at first and it feels rushed, but they you’re jangled around a bit like bells in a jar. The future here is a quiet hallway lined with lush trees. We are all dying and there isn’t hope. Quite a different turn than other dystopian novels. I feel Emptier after reading it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2025 by Speculativedryad
    • AI and human extinction.
Format: Kindle
Should have read the ending chapters first so I could connect more with the stories. Is there hope for humans? The author has built stories about human stubbornness, hope dying, a greater Presence, love from a great mother, and the other side of dying. Do I feel hopeless as I finish this? Maybe.
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2025 by Linda McCauley Brownlee
    • Wonderfully confusing, depressing, and yet uplifting
Format: Kindle
I will be thinking about this for a long time. Wild and wonderful. Love and hate and despair and hope come together for us.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2025 by Amazon Customer
    • So many iterations of humanity
Format: Kindle
This is a contemplative series of linked stories illustrating the innumerable ways in which humankind could exist. Fascinating and beautiful 2025 International Booker long list entry.
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2025 by Susan Bass
    • Haunting
Format: Hardcover
Kawakami is one of Japan's well known contemporary novelists and he has used this book to create a haunting picture of a dystopian world long after the last humans have expired. Throughout the world are "mothers" who care for generated child until age 5. Their stories and the stories of the generated children make this a novel that you will never forget. Kawakami's prose is precise, yet warm and inviting. The world he imagines is easy to picture and perhaps that's why this is a book all should read! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2024 by Dinanand
    • thought-provoking
Format: Kindle
I couldn’t tell you what this was about exactly, but it is speculative science fiction mixed with philosophical ideas, and I loved it.
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2025 by bravosarahbravo
    • It's for those who like slow New Yorker short stories
Format: Paperback
I would not recommend this book to others-- I read it only because it was a monthly selection of our local library's science fiction book club. I love good science fiction with strong plots, well defined characters, and a wealth of ideas. This is not such a book-- it's basically a series of short chapter stories separated by long time periods, so there is not much chance to develop characters within the constraint of the each chapter, or time for the reader to get much invested in any one of them-- the characters are constantly changing, and often very passive. There's not a lot of plot, and what there is (humanity is dwindling away, efforts are being made to reverse it) is presented initially as enigmatic and mildly surreal. I actually like 'puzzle' stories, as long as there is a pay-off at the end, but in this case the point of the story was obscured until about 2/3 of the way through, and then it turned out to be a relatively simple story just told flat out by one of the characters in a long discursive chapter that's not particularly interesting. This is a case of telling, not showing, and makes for a dull book. There were a couple of times I started to nod off while reading, not something that usually happens to me. This book is not really for the typical science fiction fan, but for those who like New Yorker stories, although maybe not as good. After I finished this, I wanted to read a good John Scalzi space opera story to get the cobwebs out, not that I don't like other types of science fiction too. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2025 by happy shopper

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.
Checking for best price...