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Convenience Store Woman

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Convenience Store Woman

By: Sayaka Murata
Narrated by: Nancy Wu
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Summary

Meet Keiko. Keiko is 36 years old. She's never had a boyfriend, and she's been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years. Keiko's family wishes she'd get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won't get married. But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she's not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store.

©2020 Sayaka Murata (P)2019 Sayaka Murata Asia Fiction Genre Fiction Japan Literary Fiction Women Women's Fiction Funny Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Witty Mind-bending
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Critic reviews

Witty, wily, and astonishingly sharp.

-- Lisa McInerney, author of "The Glorious Heresies"

An exhilaratingly weird and funny Japanese novel. Unsettling and totally unpredictable.

-- Sally Rooney

A haunting, dark, and often hilarious take on society's expectations of the single woman.

-- Elif Batuman, author of "The Idiot"

[A] short, deadpan gem... This is a true original.

-- Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail

A sure-fire hit of the summer... quirky [and] profound.

-- Irish Times

All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed it as it reminded me of our honeymoon in Japan where we spent lots of time in convenience stores looking at the exotic treats on offer and also just the general experience of life in Japan (the formality of the workers everywhere etc) - besides that it gave a possible insight into one autistic woman's thought process and experience of the world. Quite interesting.

Short and quirky

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very interesting exploration of the inner world of a neurodivergent person and their daily struggles in conrforming to society's rules

well written

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the narrator was incredible at bringing to life the simple brilliance of the text. a fantastic audio read.

such a wonderful story

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Started out great but got repetitive and a little boring towards the end. Had some elements of good political commentary and societal expectations about love and careers but they became overplayed by the end.

Good

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It's an interesting listen with more than a drop of pathos. Hearing about how this lady navigates through difficult school years and the first 18 years working as a convenience store assistant certainly shines an interesting light on social expectations. While I can see where the attempt at comedy was made, unfortunately all I can see is that I'm expected to laugh at someone who is struggling to cope, and to me that's not funny.

Neurodivergent woman fails to navigate Japan's social structure. Not particularly funny.

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