Review by Booklist Review
Once upon a time, Yoshimoto (born 1964) debuted as one of Japan's youngest literary phenoms. In the decades since, she continues to produce brilliantly relevant fiction, notable for an open, accessible simplicity that belies revelatory observations about life, love, happiness, and more. Her latest collection contains five short stories translated again by Yoneda, who English-enabled Yoshimoto's novel Moshi Moshi (2016). Each tale features women examining significant relationships, and each involves food-related settings--restaurants, cafeterias, a bar--seeming to suggest emotional needs transformed into something achingly physical. In "House of Ghosts," spectral visitors cement the union between soul mates. A case of severe food poisoning in "Mama!" causes the victim to analyze her connection to her fiancé and her long-missing mother. In "Not Warm at All," a writer recalls her long-ago first love, an "angelic" boy whose tragic fate seems to have prevented her from having close attachments. An office worker with a five-year crush finally on the verge of reciprocation unexpectedly draws parallels with a teenage assault and her father's desertion in "Tomo-chan's Happiness." In the titular "Dead-End Memories," a woman's discovery of her fiancé's infidelity leads to, well, moments of sheer joy. Bittersweet yet radiant, poignant yet promising, Yoshimoto once again showcases her dazzling appeal.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Yoshimoto's resonant collection centers on women struggling through challenging events. Though the characters in each of the five stories have been struck by bad luck and duplicity, they are intrinsically good-natured and are also greatly influenced by the generational traditions of their forebears, as evidenced in the heartwarming opener, "House of Ghosts," in which the college-student daughter of restaurant owners observes a pair of ghosts in a classmate's apartment, thus setting the mood for the young couple's unexpected and lifelong romance. After the book editor in "Mama!" consumes poisoned curry in the publishing company's cafeteria, the ordeal is followed by an emotionally disturbing revelation. Yoshimoto's characters share a staunch, unfailing allegiance to the idea of love, and they work toward closure amid heartbreak, as in the title story in which a betrayal recalibrates a young girl's understanding of contentment. Similarly, in "Tomo-chan's Happiness," a sexual assault victim discovers hope, catharsis, and new love after years of internal torment. Yoshimoto embellishes these gorgeously written entries with sensual descriptions of food and sex, and makes them memorable by showing how the women set themselves free from misfortune via friendship and resilience. This is a gem. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
A debut author at 80, Campbell resists stereotyping as she explores the lives and desires of women aged 60 to 90 in Cat Brushing. From public school teacher and NYU MFA graduate Fofana, the eight linked portraits in Stories from The Tenants Downstairs plumb the lives of tenants in the Banneker Homes, a low-income high rise in Harlem threatened by gentrification (150,000-copy first printing). The author of five books of poetry and winner of F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story and Robert Bausch Fiction awards, combat veteran Glose tells what it was like to fight the "forever" war in All the Ruined Men. First published in Japan in 2003, popular author Yoshimoto's Dead-End Memories limns women making unusual discoveries as they find ways to heal from trauma.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A new short story collection from one of Japan's most beloved authors features five women seeking peace in the face of uncertainty. All the main characters in Yoshimoto's newest volume are similar enough that you might find them all at the same neighborhood cafe, dreamily gazing out a window and contemplating the nature of fate or the vastness of the universe. They are young Japanese women, all professionals, who are often forced, by some precipitating event, to reckon with heartache in their pasts or worry in their presents. In the long opening story, "House of Ghosts," two college friends try to define their relationship over a shared love of food and the presence of two ghosts in the apartment where they gather together. In " 'Mama!' " Matsuoka, an editor, is the victim of a shocking criminal act at her workplace and in the aftermath must deal with unpleasant childhood memories. In "Tomo-chan's Happiness," the titular main character gathers her courage to forge a connection with a co-worker in spite of past traumas that have rendered her passive. The shortest story, "Not Warm at All," features the narrator, a writer, contemplating the difficult life of her first childhood best friend and what his loss taught her about true humanity. One of the things that separates Yoshimoto from many contemporary writers is her refusal to linger on her characters' dark nights of the soul: All her protagonists are ultimately changed irrevocably by kindnesses--from others, from the natural world, from themselves--that lead them on paths toward the light. This, coupled with Yoshimoto's gentle prose (translated here by Yoneda), makes the collection perfect for readers looking for stories that will leave a sweet taste in their mouths without sacrificing depth or intelligence. An uncommonly warmhearted set of tales. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
