My Name Is Sei Shonagon

[An] exquisitely written observation of contemporary Japan... Jan Blensdorf is from Australia, but her sensitive perceptions of a society in crisis make this modern pillow book well worth its plucking from the publisher's slush pile

Guardian

A poetic tale about the social constraints and collective unconscious of modern Japan... Like the Japanese calligraphy the narrator is taught, Blensdorf's sparse prose creates word-paintings of great subtlety

Literary Review

A subtle meditation on beauty and womanhood

Observer

Cultural observations float through her prose like butterflies, but sting like a bee in the end

Liza Dalby

Set in Tokyo the story glides across the contradictions of contemporary Japanese culture - its deep traditions and manic consumerism...

The Times