This study explores the cultural trajectory of Japanese American internment, both during and after World War II. It also provides the most exhaustive biographical outline of John Okada to date and refutes the assumption that his novel was all but shunned when first published. A close reading positions the book within world literature.

Thomas Girst studied Humanities at Hamburg and New York University. He was founding editor of (1991–2003), the NY-based cultural correspondent for the German daily as well as research manager of the Art Science Research Laboratory. Since 2003, Girst has been Head of Cultural Engagement at the BMW Group. He lectures at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. His most recent publications include (2014) and (2014).

«Girst's work will appeal to scholars working in a variety of geographic and thematic categories, who will appreciate the value of his close reading and integration of previously unknown and unpublished sources, as well as his careful inclusion of illustrations, literary excerpts, exhaustive footnotes, and an extensive bibliography.» (Elena M. Friot, Pacific Northwest Quarterly Vol. 107 2015/2016) «[...] provides a valuable teaching tool in a university course in Asian American studies. For the general reader, Girst has written a thoughtful and informative study which helps to illuminate the complexity of as a novel as well as the diversity of the Japanese American response to internment.» (Hamish Ion, Pacific Affairs vol. 90, no. 2/2017)

Contents: Japanese American Internment and the Holocaust – Artistic Expression and Internment (Isamu Noguchi, Miné Okubo) – Publication History, Reception and Teaching of Okada’s «No-No Boy» – Italo Calvino – John Okada, Writer and World War II Veteran – Reading «No-No Boy» as World Literature.