Review
"A young white man, an American, finds a way to enter the hearts of old Korean women through song. Unlikely friends, they are united through the women's music, soulful with sorrow and yearning for lives and loves taken away, yet hopeful for a better world. This is deeply sensitive writing with an understanding of Koreans' songs and the women who sing them." --Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, director, Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women
"Josh Pilzer is a hugely talented young scholar, and his fascinating and highly original book sheds an entirely new light on the execrable violation of women's human rights under Japanese colonialism in Korea, and the extraordinary perseverance, humanity and ultimate triumph of the abused survivors." --Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago
"Pilzer models what it means to listen deeply. His close focus on three women's sung constructions of subjectivity allows the reader to hear not only anger and suffering but also joy, hope, and undeniable presence. Their voices rang in my ears for days. This book pulled me in-in all the ways that matter." --Deborah Wong, University of California, Riverside
About the Author
Joshua D. Pilzer is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.
