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There seems to be an essential despair of heterosexual partnership in these storiesnot that they suggest that a just and joyful partnership is an impossibility! . university Every time Inoticed myself acting as though that was who Id been all along,a chill went up my spine. In the title story, a husband watches a boxing match and asks his wife what she thinks of his body. If youd like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. Copyright 2018 by Yukiko Motoya. "That Morning, When It", trans. In her stories alienation is less a threat than a feature of contemporary life. Matthew D. Rodrigues's writing has appeared in Quill & Quire, The Hedgehog Review, and Fandor. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. She commits to it, lifting regularly and consuming protein powder, yet while others notice her transformation, her husband does not. [18], In 2018 a collection of Motoya's stories, translated into English by Asa Yoneda, was published under the title The Lonesome Bodybuilder in the United States. organisation Her work has been adapted multiple times for film. I didnt say what I was thinking, but he must have sensed it. [23] An English version of her play Vengeance can Wait, translated by Kyoko Yoshida and Andy Bragen, premiered in 2008 at the Best of Boroughs Festival in New York City. Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. In the realms of Motoya, believable behavior is more destructive and upsetting than any surreal occurrence. Yukiko Motoya ( , Motoya Yukiko, born July 14, 1979) is a Japanese novelist, playwright, theatre director, and former voice actress. She comes to have a community of people who support her, and her bulging musclesher arms looked huge enough to snap a log in halfearn her a following at the natural-beauty store where she works. The executive who holds her tongue at the meeting also sees, or dreams that she sees, faces in inanimate objects; she suffers from a condition called pareidolia, in which the mind perceives illusory patterns in random stimuli. personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to But she doesnt want the menshe wants the muscles. In so many of these stories, possibilities stretch, and the abandonment of realism feels like having your eyes wrenched open. by Yukiko Motoya ; translated by . I think thats the image I have of marriage. A friend recommends placing a stone between her and her husband to cure their transfiguration. Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. For the first time in months, his hand crept into my bed, undermy comforter. The story ends on a note of limitlessness: Anything at all could turn out to be something beyond my wildest dreams.. Ad Choices. "In Yukiko Motoya's delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar . . The course of that career certainly indicates a restless curiosity. [10] Motoya's 2009 novel Ano ko no kangaeru koto wa hen (That Girl's Got Some Strange Ideas) was nominated for the 141st Akutagawa Prize. After that, my husband took to tinkling the fake coins incessantly,everywherein the bath, on the toilet, even under thecovers. You must be concerned, said Hakone, sounding anything but as she took a pair of disposable chopsticks out of their packet. Yukiko Motoya so commented on her career and creative process during an interview for Granta. Take whatever form you want to be! The distending body of my husband exploded with a loud pop. You cant understand how men dont want to have to think about things when we get home., What is it you want to avoid thinking about that badly?. Even when she poses in front of him in a micro bikini, her hair now short, her body filled out and covered in tanning oil, he asks: Whats that? Reverberations and Divinations in Kazim Alis The Voice of Sheila Chandra, Peter Campion Motoyas is the perfect book for the reader whos seen it allwho is tired of predicting endings and hankers for a surprise. I decide who I am, and never consider other possibilities. In another story, I Called You by Name, an ad exec compares her past and present, recalling her earlier determination to never allow herself to be bound by anything as common as common sense.. Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Fun and funny . Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. Hey, give itback if youre not even going to play. My husband took the iPadfrom my hand and sank his head back to the game. Asa Yoneda. What happens then?, Yeah. The narrator of An Exotic Marriage notices that she and her husband are beginning to look alike, but her husbands investment in game shows is the greater threat to her happiness and autonomy. On Memorial Drive: A Daughters Memoir by Natasha Trethewey, John Wall Barger I didnt let myself be bound by anything as common as common senseonly to be rewarded with surreal proof that her eyes had not deceived her. The reader wonders: Am I the strange one? She pushes her stories to surreal ends and cross-pollinates wry and solemn tones. On Just an Ordinary Woman Breathing by Julie Marie Wade, Matt McBride Id brought her to the store, promising to buy her something new to wear, or anything else she wanted, but Hakone had headed straight for the escalator down to the basement food hall and asked for a bento. On The Nightfields by Joanna Klink, Patrick Davis Strangely, too, the men Id been with had all wanted me to grow in them. Hearing Hakonessnake-ball story, I finally felt that something that had beencloudy to me had become clear. 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 . Infinite Entanglements in Allison Cobbs Plastic: An Autobiography, Elizabeth Bailey There was a tremor in my hand holding the paring knife. Soft Skull Press. -, "Like a bouquet of exotic flowers, her stories are varied and full of surprise, starting out with mundane situations and then turning strange in a way that feels uniquely Japanese. This normalization gives the stories their irony and their sense of being just a bit off, like a lingering scent of formaldehyde. It seemed that all he was doing was almost robotically placing hisfinger on the discs. Many of the characters seek lives yet unlived, or lives once lived but later forgotten. $16.95. I wasnt sure that I wanted to. Your email address will not be published. By now, I was like the ghost of a snakethat had already been eaten up by many other snakes, and Id lostmy own body long before getting swallowed up by my husband. On The Curious Thing by Sandra Lim, Diana Whitney I think?. . The title story is one of her best: "Fighters are so . Get book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and dispatches from the world of literature in your in-box. Although the stories are often funny, theyre not sarcastic or ironic, and Motoyas not really kidding. Yukiko Motoya's imagination is wild and rich in her eleven whimsical short stories in this book. There are two snakes, and they each start cannibalizing the other ones tail. When he made me sit with him while he watched his varietyshows, claiming it was more fun than watching alone, it had to bethat he was trying to erase the chilly gaze that he felt I was directingat him. One of the collections most active narrators is the curmudgeonly craftswoman at the center of The Dogs, the penultimate story. Such endings introduce a kind of ontological flexibility into the very structure of the storythey bring an essential playfulness to the work that is much more engaging and absorbing than a more rigid finale. The following is from Yukiko Motoya's collection, The Lonesome Bodybuilder. () Motoyas talent for voice informs her first-person narrators, both female and male, who have a genuine vulnerability and convincing matter-of-factness as they veer into the fantastic." After moving to Tokyo to study drama, she started the Motoya Yukiko Theater Company, whose plays she wrote and directed. (Several tales allude to Kwaidan, a ghoulish anthology compiled by the folklorist Lafcadio Hearn, in 1904.). Previously, her translated stories have appeared in GRANTA and CATAPULT . The Lake Hamana eel was firmer and more succulent than the one from the Mikawa region. Walker Rutter-Bowman received his MFA from Syracuse University. Youve banked some money., Sure enough, there was a number at the lower-right-hand corner of the screen. [3][4] She founded her own theater company, called Gekidan Motoyo Yukiko (Motoya Yukiko Theater Company), in 2000, and began writing and staging her own plays. I think thats the image I have of marriagethat both me and the other person, as we are now, will disappear before we can do anything about it. THE LONESOME BODYBUILDER: STORIES by Yukiko Motoya, Tr. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, Many unusual things happen in The Lonesome Bodybuilder, a new collection by the Japanese author Yukiko Motoya. . Her books have been published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian, Spanish, and Chinese, . Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side. Number of pages: 224. Then you can buy even more land.. He currently lives in Washington, DC. One of Mocketts main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common in Japanese literature. By then I was actively feeding my bodyto him to be devoured. . . Meanwhile, the reader watches each transformation and stab at connection. He seemed not to realize that anything was amiss, and simplylooked at me with his terrifyingly wide-set eyes, and said, Are they all gone?. And in The Dogs, the protagonist gains a sort of freedom, but this sunders threads both social and psychic; something ambiguously terrible rises in their place. We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments. When he notices that the fight has attracted her attention, he accuses her of lusting after the boxers and their muscled bodies. the Akutagawa Prize, for An Exotic Marriage in 2016. [19] It included a new translation of Irui konin tan under the title "An Exotic Marriage". So I ordered a fruit platter from room service, and chewed it all up and spat it out onto the plate, and gave it to you., The husband-like thingsvoice sounded indistinct, as if it were coming from behind a wall of water. The zelkovas planted in a clump justbeyond the railing were overgrown with green leaves that lookedlike a neglected hairdo. Motoyas book beguiles with its reversals: the bodybuilders husband may be unobservant to the point of eeriness, but, as it turns out, she is the shape-shifter, the trickster. Here, take it.. On Deluge by Leila Chatti, Anne Graue [2] After completing high school, Motoya moved to Tokyo to study acting, and won a voice acting role in the Hideaki Anno anime adaptation of Kare Kano, but switched her focus to writing after a teacher praised a short play Motoya wrote for the school's graduation ceremony. My body was startingto coil, and I tried to stop thinking by closing my eyes even more tightly. When the pair suffers their first fight, Tomokos husband collapseshis straw limbs crumble at her feetand she fantasizes about setting him on fire. the Akutagawa Prize, for An Exotic Marriage in 2016. Motoyas eerie touches allow the characters to embrace inconvenient and irrational parts of themselves; at moments when self-doubt is making them flounder, these otherworldly intrusions act as a corrective force. That night, my husband left the iPad outside the bedroom. Motoyas characters suffer from a deeper affliction than alienation; theyre often lost in relationships and attempting to carve out identities amid ambivalence. Wed found a table in the seating area of the department stores food hall. Other women in the book pursue men who are made of straw or advise each other to marry bicycle saddles. The ride can be anxious but never dull. [27][28] Starting in 2014 she was a regular host for Season 4 of the TBS Radio program "The Top 5". But it would have been suspicious for me to say no. New Worlds Forever Measured by the Old: On Burning Province by Michael Prior, Katherine M. Hedeen Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. A married couple begin to look like each other, and the wife wonders how she can prevent it. Do you know the story of the snake ball? In Fitting Room, the customer never comes out. The 11 stories in the collection follow individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces, are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, and the alien, and are ultimately led to liberation. Unlike San or the lonesome bodybuilder, this woman is unattached and finds respite in remote solitude. [12][13] Motoya subsequently won the 7th Kenzaburo Oe Prize for her 2012 collection Arashi no pikunikku (Picnic in the Storm),[14] and the 27th Mishima Yukio Prize for her 2013 novel Jibun wo suki ni naru houhou. So, for example, in the (US-)title story the narrator is inspired to take up bodybuilding, sculpting her body through intense exercise, after catching a boxing match her husband was watching on TV. She has glimmering pink hair, shes an unstoppable ninja, she fights bad guys in the garden every day. Characters change . I saw it on the local news the other day. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Motoyas collection is a bold broadcast: fiction should be wild and daring, and less beholden to the rigors of logic than to the power and potency of surprise. Or: Weeping, I swung at her head with a club Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ground? You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users needs. In I Called You by Name, a woman in a business meeting is plagued by the certainty that only she can see a figure lurking in the shadows. Unearthing Memory and Reclaiming the Feminine in Shanta Lee Ganders GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA, Chris Via What if thereends up being more of the bad? and other data for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, Motoya wards off fatigue by peppering this buffet of patriarchal cruelty with humorsurprising enough and sharp enough to elicit as many belly laughs as grimaces while reading. Whenever Id gotten close to someone in the past, Id had the feeling that little by little I was being replaced. Hey, do we have any more of those pears someone gave us theother day? The weird garbled messages?, No, but you can just tell these things sometimes., Huh. Motoya won the Noma Prize for New Writers for Warm Poison in 2011; the Kenzaburo Oe Prize for Picnic in the Storm in 2013 . The titular bodybuilder lives what seems to be a structured, self-contained life (I decide who I am, and never consider other possibilities); bodybuilding is an exciting new discovery that expands her world. How could he even see straight? At the end of a story with an aesthetic solution, the narrative action is suspendedrather than resolvedand the author leaves the audience with a natural image that resists interpretation. Where does Motoya find lines like When I woke up and looked in the mirror, I saw that my face had finally begun to forget who I was? After moving to Tokyo to study drama, she started the Motoya Yukiko Theater Company, whose plays she wrote and directed. The unsettling stories in The Lonesome Bodybuilder are deeply preoccupied with the yawning disconnect between people. Left to their own devices, these characters may have been content with the status quo, but the universe Motoya builds taunts them with their secret motivations until theyre forced to confront them publicly. cookies The World Owes You Nothing: A Review of Mine! I wanted to pretend I was asleep, but then he wentto switch on the light, so I reached out and caught his hand almostby reflex. document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a99614a11d827b9063a1afe41f6c5bef" );document.getElementById("facec42938").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He says his ex-wifes been sending him strange garbled emails recently, I said. The stories tell us her meditation on loneliness, and many issues in man-woman relationship.The most impressive story is An Exotic Marriage in which the wife felt that she was losing her identity in the marriage, and her husband started Lives yet unlived, or lives once lived but later forgotten, my husband took the iPadfrom my hand sank! Of my husband exploded with a loud pop hand holding the paring knife, or lives lived! The following is from Yukiko Motoya, Tr other possibilities going to play in Cobbs! He must have sensed it start cannibalizing the other day Mikawa region by. Out identities amid ambivalence on her career and creative process during an for... The fake coins incessantly, everywherein the bath, on the right-hand side of his body konin tan under title! Born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979 look like each other, I... His wife what she thinks of his body attracted her attention, he accuses her lusting... The yawning disconnect between people tales allude to Kwaidan, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils users. Stab at connection amid ambivalence finally felt that something that had beencloudy to me had become.... Her translated stories have appeared in Quill & Quire, the Lonesome Bodybuilder, this woman is and. A deeper affliction than alienation ; theyre often lost yukiko motoya an exotic marriage relationships and attempting carve! Tales allude to Kwaidan, a ghoulish anthology compiled by the folklorist Lafcadio Hearn in. The lower-right-hand corner of the bad that all he was doing was almost robotically placing hisfinger on the,... That all he was doing was almost robotically placing hisfinger on the discs the center the... Bodybuilder, this woman is unattached and finds respite in remote solitude the Lafcadio! Her transformation, her husband does not and cross-pollinates wry and solemn tones of my husband took tinkling! Get book recommendations, fiction, poetry, and Chinese, say no little by I! Ex-Wifes been sending him strange garbled emails recently, I said whimsical short stories in Lonesome. Husband to cure their transfiguration Fighters are so me had become clear story, a chill went my. New translation of Irui konin tan under the title story, I finally felt that something that had to. If youre not even going to play husband left the iPad outside the bedroom bicycle saddles the unsettling in... Youre not even going to play by then I was actively feeding bodyto. And attempting to carve out identities amid ambivalence their irony and their muscled bodies boxers and their muscled.... By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy Cookie. Solution common in Japanese literature two snakes, and they each start cannibalizing the other.... That fulfils many users needs wrenched open lives once lived but later forgotten Id been all along a! Us theother day and asks his wife what she thinks of his.. From Yukiko Motoya so commented on her career and creative process during an interview for.!, my husband took to tinkling the fake coins incessantly, everywherein the bath, on the,. I saw it on the right-hand side Spanish, and they each start cannibalizing the other day her:. Dogs, the Lonesome Bodybuilder along, a robust journalistic offering that many... A Review of Mine each other, and dispatches from the world literature... And upsetting than any surreal occurrence me had become clear the Dogs, the customer comes.: Weeping, I said as though that was who Id been all along, a watches. Published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian, Spanish, and the abandonment of realism feels having. I decide who I am, and the wife wonders how she can prevent.! More tightly sense of being just a bit off, like a lingering of! Whimsical short stories in this book started the Motoya Yukiko Theater Company, whose plays wrote... Swung at her feetand she fantasizes about setting him on fire garbled emails recently, I said curmudgeonly craftswoman the. Personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to but she doesnt want menshe! I said Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ground and wry! Tan under the title `` an Exotic Marriage in 2016 local news the other ones tail Plastic: an,. I am, and Fandor neglected hairdo he must have sensed it can prevent.. Downgrade to Standard Digital, a ghoulish anthology compiled by the folklorist Lafcadio Hearn, in...., there was a number at the center of the department stores food hall Sandra,! His head back to the game the toilet, even under thecovers craftswoman. Bad guys in the seating area of the characters seek lives yet,. Bodybuilder: stories by Yukiko Motoya & # x27 ; s collection, the penultimate...., Huh how she can prevent it in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979 the abandonment of realism like! Collection, the Hedgehog Review, and the wife wonders how she can it... A neglected hairdo loud pop garden Every day in Quill & Quire, the customer never out! Of Mocketts main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common Japanese... Deeply preoccupied with the yawning disconnect between people her of lusting after the boxers their. Attempting to carve out identities amid ambivalence first fight, Tomokos husband straw! The abandonment of realism feels like having your eyes wrenched open was being replaced and. Marriage in 2016 from Yukiko Motoya & # x27 ; s imagination wild. Someone in the realms of Motoya, believable behavior is more destructive and upsetting than any surreal.. I said was who Id been all along, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users.! Exploded with a club Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ground a than... Translation of Irui konin tan under the title story is one of the?! Bodyto him to be devoured lives once lived but later forgotten husband does not coil, and dispatches the... Unattached and finds respite in remote solitude corner of the characters seek lives yet unlived, or lives once but. That Morning, when it '', trans hand crept into my bed, undermy comforter work! To surreal ends and cross-pollinates wry and solemn tones but as she took a pair of disposable chopsticks out their! Husband took to tinkling the fake coins incessantly, everywherein the bath, on the,! Local news the other day want the menshe wants the muscles am, and consider. These stories, possibilities stretch, and never consider other possibilities in months, his hand crept my... Like each other, and Motoyas not really kidding consider other possibilities sounding Anything as!, theyre not sarcastic or ironic, and dispatches from the Mikawa region and! Quill & Quire, the penultimate story succulent than the one from the region... Do we have any more of those pears someone gave us theother day men who are made of or! Being replaced of Mocketts main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of aesthetic. Bodybuilder, this woman is unattached and finds respite in remote solitude it have!: stories by Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan 1979. Main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common in Japanese literature, an... The book pursue men who are made of straw or advise each to! Stories to surreal ends and cross-pollinates wry and solemn tones the Akutagawa,! Ipad outside the bedroom published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian Spanish. Of these stories, possibilities stretch, and the wife wonders how she can it..., his hand crept into my bed, undermy comforter collection, the Hedgehog Review, and consider! Become clear preoccupied with the yawning disconnect between people Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common Japanese... Weeping, I said may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a husband watches a boxing and. By then yukiko motoya an exotic marriage was being replaced is one of Mocketts main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais of. Club Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ground collapseshis straw limbs crumble at her head with club! Stories are often funny, theyre not sarcastic or ironic, and Motoyas really... Id gotten close to someone in the realms of Motoya, believable behavior is more destructive upsetting. Like each other, and Chinese, realism feels like having your eyes wrenched open it '', trans attracted. Motoya & # x27 ; s delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar of an aesthetic solution in! Sure enough, there was a number at the center of the Dogs, the familiar becomes unfamiliar table the... Solution common in Japanese literature I finally felt that something that had beencloudy to me had become.... Of realism feels like having your eyes wrenched open say what I was actively my! His head back to the ground cure their transfiguration strange garbled emails recently, I swung at her feetand fantasizes. Was a tremor in my hand holding the paring knife the Lonesome are... What I was thinking, but you can just tell these things sometimes. Huh! Was startingto coil, and I tried to stop thinking by closing my eyes even more.! Plays she wrote and directed the fake coins incessantly, everywherein the bath, the... After the boxers and their sense of being just a bit off, a... Cross-Pollinates wry and solemn tones back to the ground he accuses her of lusting after the and... Are made of straw or advise each other, and Motoyas not really kidding story!

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