Masterfully told, engaging short stories. Modern men and women in the shadows of cold office buildings in Tokyo discover the spirituality they believed themselves to jaded to ever see.

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Reads like a prose poem. In the afterword (there's also an additional afterword to the American edition) Banana Yoshimoto writes, "I was interested in exploring time, healing, karma, and fate." But to me, all of the stories are about forgiving and being forgiven.

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One of my favorite short story collections.

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This is a very enjoyable set of 6 short stories. Though all are set in Japan, they've been well-translated and people of any culture can relate to the situations -- relationships, marriage, dating, and other issues of life -- things that were, things that might be, things that might have been, making decisions. Highly recommended.

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quirky and funny... something that helps pass the time most splendidly with short, blunt descriptions and conversational tone.

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Interesting, sad, and unexpected.

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