{"title":"Yukiko Motoya","description":"\u003cp\u003eDive into the surreal and captivating short stories of Yukiko Motoya. Her unique blend of humour and uncanny realism offers a fresh perspective, perfect for fans of Haruki Murakami and contemporary Japanese fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"cindyrella-book-yukiko-motoya-9780573700187","title":"Cindyrella","description":"Vengeance Can Wait  navigates Japanese sub-culture as it charts a different kind of love story. A couple has the ideal domestic relationship: he spends his days planning the perfect revenge, while she awaits her perfect punishment. Dark, twisted, and touching, the couple comes to understand the \"kinks\" in their relationship - and embrace them.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49552918053137,"sku":"GOR013642350","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51003774664977,"sku":"NIN9780573700187","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52680445329681,"sku":"NLS9780573700187","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0573700184.jpg?v=1750783289"},{"product_id":"picnic-in-the-storm-book-yukiko-motoya-9781472154347","title":"Picnic in the Storm","description":"Published in the US as The Lonesome Bodybuilder  Winner of the Akutagawa Prize and the Kenzaburo Oe Prize.   'These arresting, hyper-real stories linger in the imagination . . . By the first few sentences, you know you're hearing the voice of a remarkable writer; by the end of [the story] \"An Exotic Marriage\", you're certain that Yukiko Motoya's shivery, murmuring voice will never completely leave you' Financial Times    'Delightful . . . Fun and funny . . . The style will remind readers of the Japanese authors Banana Yoshimoto and Sayaka Murata, but the stories themselves . . . are reminiscent, at least to this reader, of Joy Williams and Rivka Galchen and George Saunders' The New York Times Book Review  A housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique - which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking businessmen struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon - until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A woman working in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won't come out of the fitting room - and who may or may not be human. A newly wed notices that her husband's features are beginning to slide around his face - to match her own.  In these eleven stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien - and, through it, find a way to liberation. Winner of the Kenzaburo Oe Prize, Picnic in the Storm (published in the US as The Lonesome Bodybuilder) is the English-language debut of one of Japan's most fearless young writers.  'People around the world have been whispering Motoya's name in my ear. Now she's translated into English!' Gary Shteyngart  'Readers who still enjoy fiction for sheer entertainment should get their hands on these stories' The Japan Times","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49599233130769,"sku":"GOR009533276","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50414197145873,"sku":"GOR011244733","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52519513948433,"sku":"GOR013354837","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1472154347.jpg?v=1751455950"},{"product_id":"picnic-in-the-storm-book-yukiko-motoya-9781472154354","title":"Picnic in the Storm","description":"Winner of the Akutagawa Prize and the Kenzaburo Oe Prize A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice  'In Yukiko Motoya's delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar . . . Certainly the style will remind readers of the Japanese authors Banana Yoshimoto and Sayaka Murata, but the stories themselves?and the logic, or lack thereof, within their sentences?are reminiscent, at least to this reader, of Joy Williams and Rivka Galchen and George Saunders' ?Weike Wang, New York Times Book Review  A housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique - which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking businessmen struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon - until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A woman working in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won't come out of the fitting room - and who may or may not be human. A newlywed notices that her husband's features are beginning to slide around his face - to match her own.  In these eleven stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien - and, through it, find a way to liberation. Winner of the Kenzaburo Oe Prize, Picnic in the Storm is the English-language debut of one of Japan's most fearless young writers.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49733851054353,"sku":"NGR9781472154354","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49925254512913,"sku":"GOR010234692","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50414489370897,"sku":"GOR010755560","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1472154355.jpg?v=1772704898"},{"product_id":"lonesome-bodybuilder-book-yukiko-motoya-9781593766788","title":"The Lonesome Bodybuilder","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Akutagawa Prize and the Kenzaburo Oe Prize, these eleven surreal tales, set in the offices, zoos, bus stops, boutiques, and homes of contemporary Japan \"are reminiscent, at least to this reader, of Joy Williams and Rivka Galchen and George Saunders\" (Weike Wang, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e, Editors' Choice).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In the English-language debut of one of Japan's most fearlessly inventive young writers a housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique, which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking commuters struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon, until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A saleswoman in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won't come out of the fitting room, and who may or may not be human. A newlywed notices that her spouse's features are beginning to slide around his face to match her own.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In these eleven stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien--and find a doorway to liberation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49757914956049,"sku":"CIN1593766785G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49765345394961,"sku":"CIN1593766785VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50304565510417,"sku":"GOR010217680","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51038177329425,"sku":"NIN9781593766788","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1593766785.jpg?v=1751150713"},{"product_id":"love-at-least-book-yukiko-motoya-9781593768317","title":"Love at Least","description":"\u003cb\u003eSylvia Plath's \u003ci\u003eThe Bell Jar\u003c\/i\u003e for twenty-first-century Japan, a young woman suffering from depression embarks on a series of darkly comic domestic disasters that lead her to question whether she is worthy of love\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Twenty-five-year-old Yasuko has been living with her kind but apathetic boyfriend Tsunaki for three years. During this time, she has battled waves of depression and hypersomnia, staying in bed for days on end, mired in ennui.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e When Tsunaki begins working longer hours, Yasuko tries to take over some of the house chores in the hope of breaking out of her rut, but cannot even manage to cook dinner without ending up sobbing in a pitch-black hallway. Any attempt to get her life together seems only to highlight Yasuko's brokenness. As everything threatens to fall apart, she makes a spectacular last-ditch effort to wrench Tsunaki out of his indifference and find something to ground her in the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Radical, comical, and energetic, \u003ci\u003eLove at Least\u003c\/i\u003e is a sincere and compelling story of a young woman searching for connection.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53533959160081,"sku":"NGR9781593768317","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781593768317.jpg?v=1782210409"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-yukiko-motoya.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}