Praise for Jackson Alone
Them Magazine’s 10 Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of 2026
“Part seedy, part satire, all bite . . . It’s a short read that leaves a scar.”
—Japan Times
“By turns funny, tender, and righteously angry, Ando’s English debut is a perfect speedy read.”
—Them
“Heartbreaking, hilarious, and harrowing, Jose Ando’s Jackson Alone astounds. Investigating queerness, Blackness, and difference in a vibrant, ever-shifting Tokyo, Ando’s novel blends buddy-comedy, whodunit, and cultural excavation into a story about the many different ways we belong (and don’t). I’ve never read anything like Ando’s prose—Jackson Alone transcends the form.”
—Bryan Washington, author of Palaver and Memorial
“I read every page completely unable to predict what happens next. Jose Ando’s Jackson Alone is a subtle thriller brought to daring life by Kalau Almony.”
—Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity
“The harmony that Jackson Alone finds between a pressing social theme and rhythmic narration filled me with a strange excitement I had never before experienced.”
—Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory Police
“A unique idea reminiscent of the work of Jordan Peele.”
—Amy Yamada, author of Bedtime Eyes
“Jackson Alone depicts characters belonging to multiple minority groups, a presence only now beginning to be recognised in Japanese society and does so with a tremendous perceptiveness rooted in the micro level of everyday experience.”
—Keiichiro Hirano, author of A Man
“The rhythm of Jose Ando’s Jackson Alone is wonderful, as is the richly forceful premise.”
—Hiromi Kawakami, author of Strange Weather in Tokyo
“Skewering the horrors of corporate work and living with the internet, Jackson Alone is a propulsive exploration of doppelgängers, revenge, obsession and queer community, and how race and desire can become dangerously entangled. Twisty and subversive—I’ve never read anything like it.”
—Jenna Clake, author of Disturbance
“Jackson’s strong character appeal drive[s] the unsettling suspense toward a climax heavy with social commentary. A well-crafted literary indictment.”
—Booklist
“A satiric unmasking of Japanese racism and homophobia.”
—Paula Woods, Los Angeles Times
