Milena Michiko Flasar's Mr Katō Plays Family is an eccentric second-lease-on-life novel for fans of A Man Called Ove and Beautiful World, Where Are You.

Mr Katō--a curmudgeon and recent retiree--finds his only solace during his daily walks, where he wonders how his life went wrong and daydreams about getting a dog (which his wife won't allow). During one of these walks, he is approached by a young woman. She calls herself Mie, and invites him to join her business Happy Family, where employees act as part-time relatives or acquaintances for clients in need, for whatever reason, if only for a day.

At first reluctant, but then intrigued, he takes the job without telling his wife or adult children. Through the many roles he takes on, Mr Katō rediscovers the excitement and spontaneity of life, and re-examines his role in his own family. Using lessons learned with his "play families," he strives to reconnect with his loved ones, to become the father and husband they deserve, and to live the life he's always wanted.

Author: Milena Michiko Flasar
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Forge
Published: 06/20/2023
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.64lbs
Size: 8.48h x 6.28w x 0.84d
ISBN: 9781250842497


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/15/2023 pg. 17

About the Author

MILENA MICHIKO FLASAR was born in 1980, the daughter of a Japanese mother and an Austrian father. Her 2012 novel I Called Him Necktie was a bestseller in Austria, selling over 100,000 copies and winning both the Austrian Alpha Literature Prize and the Euregio Prize. In 2017, Flasar won the Niederösterreich Cultural Prize in Literature. She studied comparative literature at the University of Vienna, and currently is the literary fellow with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts, and Culture.

CAROLINE FROH translates from German, with a fondness for Swiss-German prose. She holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, where she was also a Provost's Postgraduate Visiting Writer.