Convenience store woman / Sayaka Murata ; translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murata, Sayaka, 1979- author.

Contributor:

Takemori, Ginny Tapley, translator.

Standardized Title:

Conbini ningen. English

Language:

English

Japanese

Subjects (All):

Convenience stores--Japan--Fiction.

Convenience stores.

Women--Japan--Conduct of life--Fiction.

Women.

Man-woman relationships--Fiction.

Man-woman relationships.

Interpersonal relations--Fiction.

Interpersonal relations.

Conformity--Fiction.

Conformity.

Japan--Social life and customs--Fiction.

Japan.

Manners and customs.

Women--Conduct of life.

Genre:

Fiction.

Japanese fiction -- Translations into English.

Physical Description:

163 pages ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Granta, 2019.

Language Note:

Translated from the Japanese.

Summary:

Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis--but will it be for the better? Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko's thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.

Notes:

English translation originally published: 2018.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Gift of Joan Detz.

ISBN:

9781846276842

1846276845

OCLC:

1105957737