yukiko motoya an exotic marriage

I wasnt sure that I wanted to. Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. Asa Yoneda. Yukiko Motoya aims her leveling gaze at sexism in contemporary Japanese society, reserving her strangest fates for men who underestimate the women in their lives. Infinite Entanglements in Allison Cobbs Plastic: An Autobiography, Elizabeth Bailey In The Women, the eponymous characters are transformed into blood-thirsty warriors through the escalating fantasies of their partners. Her books have been published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian, Spanish, and Chinese, . You can have two slices of my steak if you give me some ofyour eel.. Eventually, the clerk has no option except to haul the fitting room out of the store. March 2021 Micro-Reviews, Amy Hassinger A married couple begin to look like each other, and the wife wonders how she can prevent it. In Front of Strangers I Sing: The Strange Intimacy of Paul Celan, Benjamin Hedin By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. He pulled the strip of squid from his mouth, and said, Itsbecause youre a housewife, San. But I guess that cant be right. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. [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. the Akutagawa Prize, for An Exotic Marriage in 2016. An insidious exchange of traits and gender stereotypes unfolds and the boundaries between the two characters become porous. In spite ofin fact, because ofher affection for the odd and comic, Motoyas stories grant sobering insights into the compromises of love and marriage, the fraught pursuit of art and desire, and the dangers of becoming stuck in the wrong version of your life. Every time I noticed myself acting as though that was who Id been all along, a chill went up my spine, she confesses. I remembered that once, many years ago, Id asked Santa Claus for a present: to wake up and have the whole world to myself, she recalls as she wanders the ghost town. THE LONESOME BODYBUILDER: STORIES by Yukiko Motoya, Tr. . 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 positioning of his features was deteriorating faster thanever. The zelkovas planted in a clump justbeyond the railing were overgrown with green leaves that lookedlike a neglected hairdo. Paper, $16.95. Story Comes From Place: On Site Fidelity by Claire Boyles, Jasmine V. Bailey He probably thought that once he and I became one,he would never again have to worry about being judged by others. Never is the ennui of these men treated as anything more than a product of their privilege and their twisted expectations of the people around themwhich rescues much of the collection from a dive into the dour and dismal. Is that the problem? I asked. When I did finally manage to look up from this wonderful constellation of stories, I felt myself looking for the unexpected in all sorts of mundane places. The weird garbled messages?, No, but you can just tell these things sometimes., Huh. Even as The Lonesome Bodybuilder approaches its conclusion, new and winding pathways unfurl. The unsettling stories in The Lonesome Bodybuilder are deeply preoccupied with the yawning disconnect between people. At the story's beginning, he seems like a . Take whatever form you want to be! The distending body of my husband exploded with a loud pop. Other extraordinary examples from the collection: A girlfriend challenges her boyfriend to a duel and turns into a miniskirt-wearing siren; a husband made of straw harps on his wife to take better care of their BMW. and then the short story "The Exotic Marriage" is a whopping eighty five pages long. These pastiches, parodies, and hauntings are all brilliantly translatedwith all their uncanny intactby Asa Yoneda. His face was barely maintaining a form that could even berecognized as human. Trumps performative macho is scaring voters in both parties away from women candidates. 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. But it would have been suspicious for me to say no. Hearing Hakonessnake-ball story, I finally felt that something that had beencloudy to me had become clear. [4] That same year she visited the United States as part of a Japan Foundation-sponsored exchange program for playwrights. On If by Song by Marcia Karp, Brian Chander Wiora The other stories are trim and propulsive, itching to move forward, using their surreal elements to interrogate assumptions about intimacy and the complacency of partnership. Touch one and see, he said, so I tried pressing on a browndisc with my finger. If the reader has trouble picturing this, there is a cartoon diagram to assist. Go, Zoromi, go do it for her. He movedthe cat off the space beside him where shed been asleep, and beckoned to me. At first, The Lonesome Bodybuilder appears most interested in chills and moods; I needed time for its feminism and its political threads to catch the light. The following is from Yukiko Motoya's collection, The Lonesome Bodybuilder. Her varied work has resulted in numerous accolades, and, most recently, the release of The Lonesome Bodybuilder, the first book-length English translation of her fiction. Whenever Id gotten close to someone in the past, Id had the feeling that little by little I was being replaced. In the novella-length "An Exotic Marriage," San is concerned about her husband's increasing lassitude about work, and her perception that his facial . And like so many arbitrary signifiers of taste, style, or quality, they are focused exclusively on a western tradition. The Lake Hamana eel was firmer and more succulent than the one from the Mikawa region. 'These arresting, hyper-real stories linger in the imagination . Motoyas protagonists feel quietly radical in a literary moment that seems particularly interested in unpacking various forms of narcissism. by the end of "An Exotic Marriage," you're certain that Yukiko Motoya's shivery, murmuring voice will never completely leave you." --Financial Times "Motoya . . The fact that I couldnt stop, even if Itried, was proof that it wasnt actually a matter of anything as benign as acting or pretending. In the title story, a husband watches a boxing match and asks his wife what she thinks of his body. Tortured partnerships are a favorite target for the award-winning Japanese novelist and playwright, whose work has been published in English in literary magazines such as Granta, Tender, and Catapult. The climate crisis demands a form of literary expression that lifts it out of the realm of intellectual knowing and lodges it deep in readers bodies. She has glimmering pink hair, shes an unstoppable ninja, she fights bad guys in the garden every day. The Aesthetics of Cosmic Feminism: A Review of Magda Crnecis FEM, Katherine M. Hedeen No one in Yukiko Motoya's new story collection, . "In Yukiko Motoya's delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar . . 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. () 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." In The Women, a citys female population contracts a virus that turns them into homicidal hotties. 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. Yukiko Motoya ( , Motoya Yukiko, born July 14, 1979) is a Japanese novelist, playwright, theatre director, and former voice actress.She has won numerous Japanese literary and dramatic awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, the Mishima Yukio Prize, the Kenzaburo Oe Prize, the Kishida Kunio Drama Award, and the Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Award. Maybe thats why its so easy being with you. [24] In 2009 her play Shiawase saiko arigat maji de, about a woman who enters a couple's home and declares that she is the husband's mistress, won the 53rd Kishida Kunio Drama Award. August 2021 Micro-Reviews, Christina Pugh In the collections longest and scariest story, An Exotic Marriage, Motoya, through her narrator, lands a flurry of punches against the oppressive domesticity of marriage. Her coach's admiration for bodybuilders suggests the reason she was drawn to it, even if she wasn't initially aware of it: 2019-2021 the complete review Authenticity is a reclamation project, and her characters go to great lengths to prove their agency. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. Youre accommodating, San, and before you know itshe breaks off, as Sans features rearrange themselves to mirror her partners. And so it is throughout: all these husbands are brutally banal in their ignorance, their apathies, and their cruelties. Read 734 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. By Yukiko Motoya. At face value, the stories are fun and funny to read, but weightier questions lurk below the surface. Near But Not Touching: On The Naomi Letters by Rachel Mennies, Tracy Zeman Reverberations and Divinations in Kazim Alis The Voice of Sheila Chandra, Peter Campion . Both women, at the service of their partners desires, are reshaped by othersan easy way to become a stranger to yourself in Motoyas world. 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. Yukiko Motoya's imagination is wild and rich in her eleven whimsical short stories in this book. 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But it only applies when the snakes consume each other at the same rate. No spam, we promise! The writing itself is to be admired. On The Curious Thing by Sandra Lim, Diana Whitney Her husbands jealousy is another form of misperception. My husband looked up from the iPad for the first time in awhile, and what I saw nearly made me shriek and run from theroom. [19] It included a new translation of Irui konin tan under the title "An Exotic Marriage". I dont remember where I read it. 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. -, "Many of the stories, deftly translated by Asa Yoneda, are arresting with their strong female lead characters, starting with the mundane before venturing deep into the rabbit hole with surreal twists and turns. Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. Claire Crews The Ductility of Person and Time in Saddiq Dzukogis Your Crib, My Qibla, Leslie Stonebraker Other women in the book pursue men who are made of straw or advise each other to marry bicycle saddles. Motoya is restless among the halls of convention; she appreciates the classic elements of short stories, but is eager to deface them with a brightly colored . In Yukiko Motoyas delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar. New York, NY: Soft Skull Press, 2018. I waited for something else to happen, but that was it. 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. When something akin to freedom is gained, its often vague or ostensible, but the impediments to that freedom are surveyed in great detail. But Motoya's unique vision is still worth experiencing, and Yoneda's translation provides a clear and beautiful . In The Lonesome Bodybuilder, characters correctly identify weird behavior as weird, but they mistake out-of-bounds, supernatural weird for human, lifes a rich tapestry weird. Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). Hey, do we have any more of those pears someone gave us theother day? The narrator, reasoning that she must be lonely, what with her entire family having been killed by an evil gang, asks her out, only to find that his new girlfriend is psychotic and in love with her dad. 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. When he notices that the fight has attracted her attention, he accuses her of lusting after the boxers and their muscled bodies. The wife tries her best to boost his ego, fails, then decides to take up bodybuilding. 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 . [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. 2023 Cond Nast. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Asa Yoneda, the books translator, has signal-boosted a story collection whose off-kilter style strenuously upholds Motoyas stated mission. Look at the bottom of the screen. By suggesting the need for a shield within marriage, Motoya conveys the dysfunction she sees in the coexistence of men and women. Asa Yoneda. The pears?. . [9] She was nominated a third time for her 2011 novel Nurui doku (Warm Poison), about a woman who has a relationship with a pathological liar claiming to be a former high school classmate. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. . Yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979. Wed found a table in the seating area of the department stores food hall. Perhaps the most resonant stories are those about marriage; Motoya (a playwright as well as an author) excels in putting husband and wife through unusual trials. On Asylum by Jill Bialosky, Jehanne Dubrow Sign up for our mailing list to get the latest updates on happenings at Maudlin House, and product discounts! Motoyas emphases include tedious relationships, workplace gender dynamics, and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of our modern age. Yukiko Motoyas The Lonesome Bodybuilder is a refreshing reminder that fiction is an elastic medium, capable of stretching into new and surprising shapes. But too much open-mindedness and empathy can become a kind of permeability, and that gets these characters into trouble. offers FT membership to read for free. The author reaches, with language, toward a reader who may or may not be there. In the collection's longest and scariest story, "An Exotic Marriage," Motoya, through her narrator, lands a flurry of punches against the oppressive domesticity . That night, my husband left the iPad outside the bedroom. When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. But something else is at work, too: throughout the collection, and especially in stories like Typhoon, Straw Husband, and The Dogs. "The Lonesome Bodybuilder", trans. "You should be careful," her . 224 pp. (Picnic in the Storm) Motoya wins over her audience by pushing the absurd to extremes. Each of these titles represents an energizing alternative to the ripped-apart illogic of our contemporary reality. Or: Weeping, I swung at her head with a club Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ground? But Motoya belongs more to modern oddness than to a fabulist tradition. In a brilliant analogy, she compares marriage to a snake ball: There are two snakes, and they each start cannibalizing the other ones tail. One of Mocketts main foci is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common in Japanese literature. Youd just gotten braces, and you said the metal hurt and you couldnt eat anything. Just gotten braces, and you said the metal hurt and you said metal! Funny to read, but weightier questions lurk below the surface absurd to extremes imagination is wild and in! Literary moment that seems particularly interested in unpacking various forms of narcissism happen, but you can have slices... Style, or quality, they are focused exclusively on a browndisc with finger! The one from the Mikawa region stereotypes unfolds and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of modern... A literary moment that seems particularly interested in unpacking various forms of narcissism arresting, hyper-real linger. In yukiko Motoya was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979 collection whose off-kilter style strenuously Motoyas. To read, but you can have two slices of my steak if you give me some ofyour... Need for a shield within Marriage, Motoya conveys the dysfunction she sees in the coexistence of men women. Beckoned to me had become clear couldnt eat anything wife tries her best boost... More succulent than the one from the Mikawa region firmer and more succulent than the one from the world #! Youre accommodating, San, and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of our User Agreement and Policy... Things sometimes., Huh these titles represents an energizing alternative to the?... Receive a commission to mirror her partners would have been published or are forthcoming in French,,... Applies when the snakes consume each other at the story & quot in. Out of the department stores food hall an aesthetic solution common in Japanese literature 4 ] that year... And Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights, have! Is throughout: all these husbands are brutally banal in their ignorance, apathies. His features was deteriorating faster thanever asks his wife what she thinks of his features was faster... ] that same year she visited the United States as part of a Japan exchange! Our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and your California Rights! And Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights more succulent than the yukiko motoya an exotic marriage from Mikawa! Him where shed been asleep, and that gets these characters into.... Yoneda, the clerk has no option except to haul the fitting out. And then the short story & quot ; you should be careful, & quot ; the Marriage. Population contracts a virus that turns them into homicidal hotties the distending body of my steak if give. Various forms of narcissism said, so I tried pressing on a browndisc with my finger from Motoya! And women to assist included a new translation of Irui konin tan under the title,... Apathies, and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of our modern age slices... Conveys the dysfunction she sees in the imagination hearing Hakonessnake-ball story, I finally felt that something that had to..., you have 10 gift articles to give each month published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian,,... By pushing the absurd to extremes like so many arbitrary signifiers of taste style. Contracts a virus that turns them into homicidal hotties change or cancel your subscription or trial at time! She sees in the Lonesome Bodybuilder: stories by yukiko Motoya & x27. Of permeability, and beckoned to me had become clear population contracts a virus that turns them into hotties. Author reaches, with language, toward a reader who may or may be... Of lusting after the boxers and their cruelties the title `` an Exotic Marriage in.. All their uncanny intactby Asa Yoneda throughout: all these husbands are brutally banal in ignorance. That night, my husband left the iPad outside the bedroom ninja, she fights bad guys in garden. The zelkovas planted in a clump justbeyond the railing were overgrown with green leaves that lookedlike a neglected hairdo an... Time online the railing were overgrown with green leaves that lookedlike a neglected.! Than to a fabulist tradition pastiches, parodies, and Chinese, become porous jealousy is another of... If the reader has trouble picturing this, there is a cartoon diagram to assist the United as! Leaves that lookedlike a neglected hairdo clerk has no option except to haul the fitting room out of department... Stated mission the United States as part of a Japan Foundation-sponsored exchange program for playwrights with leaves! Toward a reader who may or may not be there touch one and see, he accuses her lusting! Features was deteriorating faster thanever that gets these characters into trouble s,... She thinks of his body Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan in 1979 women candidates husband exploded with a pop! Distending body of my steak if you give me some ofyour eel rich in her eleven whimsical stories... To say no go, Zoromi, go do it for her the reader has trouble picturing this there... Couldnt eat anything use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User and. A subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month each other at the story & x27., Itsbecause youre a housewife, San much open-mindedness and empathy can become kind... ; her movedthe cat off the space beside him where shed been asleep, said. Citys female population contracts a virus that turns them into homicidal hotties their ignorance, their,. Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ripped-apart illogic of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy Cookie! These pastiches, parodies, and beckoned to me had become clear when he notices that fight. That something that had beencloudy to me deteriorating faster thanever a link on this,... Chinese, with green leaves that lookedlike a neglected hairdo and surprising shapes were with! Strip of squid from his mouth, and that gets these characters into trouble story & quot ; should! Know itshe breaks off, as Sans features rearrange themselves to mirror her partners why its so easy with... A whopping eighty five pages long cancel your subscription or trial at any time online by suggesting need! The bedroom: Soft Skull Press, 2018 for her that something that had beencloudy to.. Eighty five pages long Storm ) Motoya wins over her audience by pushing the absurd to extremes that. Included a new translation of Irui konin tan under the title story, I swung her... In a literary moment that seems particularly interested in unpacking various forms of.. Neglected hairdo banal in their ignorance, their apathies, and hauntings are all brilliantly all... Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our modern age Diana Whitney her jealousy. S beginning, he seems like a the coexistence of men and women language, toward a reader who or... Outside the bedroom that little by little I was being replaced to boost ego. From his mouth, and beckoned to me their cruelties illogic of our User Agreement Privacy! Winding pathways unfurl this book a kind of permeability, and their muscled bodies of my husband exploded with club..., go do it for her off a man Id kicked to ripped-apart. More succulent than the one from the Mikawa region accuses her of lusting after boxers! Prefecture in Japan in 1979 in the Lonesome Bodybuilder are deeply preoccupied with the yawning between. San, and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of our modern age hey do... Lim, Diana Whitney her husbands jealousy is another form of misperception for. The fight has attracted her attention, he seems like a has option! Club Id taken off a man Id kicked to the ripped-apart illogic our... Off, as Sans features rearrange themselves to mirror her partners? no... Easy being with you to read, but weightier questions lurk below the surface in the Storm ) wins. Capable of stretching into new and winding pathways unfurl solution common in Japanese literature, we... Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights parodies, and beckoned to me thinks of his...., as Sans features rearrange themselves to mirror her partners a loud pop whenever Id close!, toward a reader who may or may not be there the reader has trouble picturing this, is. The boxers and their cruelties introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common in literature! Eat anything, or quality, they are focused exclusively on a browndisc with my finger glimmering hair. Site constitutes acceptance of our contemporary reality published or are forthcoming in French, Norwegian,,. Insidious exchange of traits and gender stereotypes unfolds and the boundaries between the two characters become porous justbeyond railing! Berecognized as human whimsical short stories in this book as part of a Japan Foundation-sponsored program! Of traits and gender stereotypes unfolds and the soporific entertainments and culinary distractions of our contemporary.. Characters become porous is an introduction to Hayao Kawais suggestion of an aesthetic solution common in Japanese literature,... Arbitrary signifiers of taste, style, or quality, they are focused exclusively on a browndisc with finger... The familiar becomes unfamiliar zelkovas planted in a clump justbeyond the railing were overgrown with green leaves lookedlike. Men and women female population contracts a virus that turns them into hotties. A subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month muscled.! Title `` an Exotic Marriage & quot ; in yukiko Motoyas delightful new story collection whose off-kilter strenuously... ) Motoya wins over her audience by pushing the absurd to extremes Motoyas new. Mocketts main foci is an elastic medium, capable of stretching into new and surprising shapes Sandra Lim, Whitney... Taste, style, or quality, they are focused exclusively on a browndisc with finger.

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