Japanese Nobel laureate (1994) Kenzabur艒 艑e has always credited French and American literature as important influences in his creative development. (He says that he "willl carry to the grave" the impact of the copy of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" given to him by his grandmother when he was a boy.) Another major influence in 艑e's life has been his oldest son, Hikari, who was brain-damaged during his 1963 birth. Several of 艑e's books feature characters based on his son.
"The Changeling" takes the real-life suicide of film director Juzo Itami (who was also 艑e's close friend and brother-in-law) and spins around it a roman 脿 clef that takes the main characters back to their past and their previous entanglement with a right-wing paramilitary group.
