In a distant future where humans teeter on the edge of extinction, the laws of life, love, and evolution have been rewritten. Some children are bioengineered in factories, part-rabbit or dolphin. Others photosynthesize, surviving on light and water. Overseen by enigmatic “Mothers,” these last remnants of humanity exist in fragile balance—but can connection and reproduction endure in this eerie, faltering world? Longlisted for the International Booker Prize, Under the Eye of the Big Bird is a breathtaking speculative masterpiece from Yoko Tawada, one of Japan’s most visionary contemporary authors. Unfolding over fourteen interconnected episodes, this novel explores the boundaries of human existence in a tale that is as poetic as it is unsettling. Will humanity’s final chapter be one of transformation—or oblivion?
