The Dilemmas of Working Women - by Fumio Yamamoto (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Now offered in translation for the first time, this collection featuring women navigating societal expectations (and their small rebellions) is a classic." -- Boston Globe

A spiky, edgy collection of five sly yet sensitive stories spotlighting clear-eyed and "difficult" women who are navigating their identities as workers and women in contemporary Japan--a feminist, anti-capitalist modern classic published outside Asia and in English for the first time.

The Dilemmas of Working Women is Fumio Yamamoto's darkly witty look at modern Japanese women who are ambivalent about their lives and jobs. In "Naked," a woman who's simultaneously lost her business and her husband finds that it is surprisingly comfortable to stay at home sewing stuffed animals, even if it makes her a "loser" in the eyes of society. In "Planarian," a young woman recovering from breast cancer tells her friends and boyfriend that she would prefer to be the titular worm to organically regenerate her body. Each of these spiky women--as well as the three other protagonists in this groundbreaking work--chafes against social expectations that equate work with worth and demand women squeeze into the confining and sometimes dehumanizing role of employee in a world built by and for men.

First published in Japan in 2000, The Dilemmas of Working Women struck a nerve with Japanese readers and became a bestselling literary sensation, selling nearly half a million copies and winning the prestigious Naoki Prize in Literature. A quarter of a century later, this brilliant modern classic--available for the first time outside Asia and in English--remains deliciously funny and astonishingly relevant.

Translated from the Japanese by Brian Bergstrom

Review Quotes

"Here are people caught between loss and regeneration. The struggles of their forlorn hearts are depicted with a light, graceful touch. There will come a point in all of our lives when we will need Fumio Yamamoto's writing." -- Saou Ichikawa, author of the International Booker Prize-longlisted Hunchback

"The Dilemmas of Working Women is a delight. With acute insight and sly humor, Fumio Yamamoto depicts the lives of modern Japanese women in all their complexity. The characters, in their quirky idiosyncrasies, are deeply familiar; their stoicisms, heartbreaking. A colloquial and breezy translation that does not read as such." -- Yoon Choi, award-winning author of Skinship

"Witty, wise and thought-provoking, these darkly comic stories portray five unique women as they deal with the societal pressures that come with being a woman in their world." -- Cecelia Ahern, bestselling author of P.S. I Love You

"What an engaging, witty, and unique book. So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorize sentences in order to repeat them to people later. What a win for the English language that we're finally getting to experience Yamamoto's inimitable voice." -- Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as This

"Now offered in translation for the first time, this collection featuring women navigating societal expectations (and their small rebellions) is a classic. The author brings complexity, emotion, and a delicate touch to extremely relatable characters." -- Boston Globe

"Brian Bergstrom . . . meticulously translates this audacious five-story collection populated by women bluntly eschewing expectations. The narrators here--four women, one man--each face complex decisions on the cusp of major change. . . . That Yamamoto writes solely in first-person cleverly encourages immediate engagement for readers, creating an instant gateway into the intimacies of these characters' lives. . . . In upsetting and challenging the venerable institution, many of Yamamoto's empathic characters--even a quarter-century after their debut--remain timeless figures of strength and resilience."
-- Shelf Awareness

"First published 25 years ago in Japan, this award-winning best-seller captures the modern woman in a dark, unflinching portrait. . . . Messy, mundane, and a bit self-deprecating, Yamamoto's stories remind readers that they are not alone in life's bleakness."
-- Booklist

"The Dilemmas of Working Women provides a curious look into the interior lives of Japanese women and the ambivalence of modern life. . . . Funny, at times self-deprecating, and unafraid to lean into the darkness, Fumio Yamamoto's masterpiece is sure to find resonance with readers today."
-- The Chicago Review of Books

"A biting commentary against capitalism and the over-valuing of productivity, these five stories play with social expectations, everyday rebellions and what it means to be a working woman in a patriarchal society." -- Ms. magazine