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NP
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
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Story4 out of 5 stars 4
A celebrated Japanese writer has committed suicide, leaving behind a collection of stories written in English, NP. But the book may never be published in his native Japan: Each translator who takes up the 98th story chooses death too - including Kazami Kano's boyfriend, Shoji. Haunted by Shoji's death, Kazami is inexorably drawn to three young people whose lives are intimately bound to the late writer and his work.
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Asleep
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
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Story3 out of 5 stars 4
Yoshimoto spins the stories of three young women bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by a woman against whom she was once pitted in a love triangle.
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Kitchen
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend, Yoichi, and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
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5 out of 5 stars
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First Time is the Charm
- By just asking for some common sense on 08-22-19
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Amrita
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Story4 out of 5 stars 6
When a celebrated actress dies under shocking circumstances, she leaves behind an older sister, Sakumi, who suffers from memory loss in the wake of an accident. Struggling to remember whom she loves and what she lost, Sakumi embarks on a unique emotional journey, accompanied by her dead sister's lover and her clairvoyant kid brother.
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Audition
- By: Ryu Murakami, Ralph McCarthy - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 11
In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don't intend to produce. As the resumes pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama's attention - Yamasaki Asami - a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. But she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he imagines her to be.
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3 out of 5 stars
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great narrator, story was very lackluster
- By Taylor Bright on 10-08-19
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The Nakano Thrift Shop
- A Novel
- By: Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell - translator
- Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 15
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Story3 out of 5 stars 15
Objects for sale at the Nakano Thrift Shop appear as commonplace as the staff and customers that handle them. But like those same customers and staff, they hold many secrets. If examined carefully, they show the signs of innumerable extravagancies, of immeasurable pleasure and pain, and of the deep mysteries of the human heart.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Entire book is a dialogue of he said she said
- By mz on 01-03-19
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NP
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
A celebrated Japanese writer has committed suicide, leaving behind a collection of stories written in English, NP. But the book may never be published in his native Japan: Each translator who takes up the 98th story chooses death too - including Kazami Kano's boyfriend, Shoji. Haunted by Shoji's death, Kazami is inexorably drawn to three young people whose lives are intimately bound to the late writer and his work.
-
Asleep
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 4
Yoshimoto spins the stories of three young women bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by a woman against whom she was once pitted in a love triangle.
-
Kitchen
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend, Yoichi, and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
First Time is the Charm
- By just asking for some common sense on 08-22-19
-
Amrita
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6
When a celebrated actress dies under shocking circumstances, she leaves behind an older sister, Sakumi, who suffers from memory loss in the wake of an accident. Struggling to remember whom she loves and what she lost, Sakumi embarks on a unique emotional journey, accompanied by her dead sister's lover and her clairvoyant kid brother.
-
Audition
- By: Ryu Murakami, Ralph McCarthy - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 13
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 11
In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don't intend to produce. As the resumes pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama's attention - Yamasaki Asami - a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. But she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he imagines her to be.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
great narrator, story was very lackluster
- By Taylor Bright on 10-08-19
-
The Nakano Thrift Shop
- A Novel
- By: Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell - translator
- Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 15
Objects for sale at the Nakano Thrift Shop appear as commonplace as the staff and customers that handle them. But like those same customers and staff, they hold many secrets. If examined carefully, they show the signs of innumerable extravagancies, of immeasurable pleasure and pain, and of the deep mysteries of the human heart.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Entire book is a dialogue of he said she said
- By mz on 01-03-19
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Strange Weather in Tokyo
- A Novel
- By: Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell - translator
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 28
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 28
Tsukiko, 38, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei", in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is 30 years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy, which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Cozy Love Story and Leisure Time in Japan
- By mz on 01-02-19
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Convenience Store Woman
- By: Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori - translator
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,270
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,178
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,178
Tokyo resident Keiko Furukara has never fit in - neither in her family, nor in school - but when at the age of 18 she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of national convenience store chain Smile Mart, she realizes instantly that she has found her purpose in life. Delighted to be able to exist in a place where the rules of social interaction are crystal clear (many are laid out line-by-line in the store's manual), Keiko does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and mode of speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a "normal" person excellently, more or less.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Am amazing and different story
- By D.R. on 04-10-19
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Out
- A Novel
- By: Natsuo Kirino
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 954
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 885
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Story4 out of 5 stars 882
This mesmerizing novel tells the story of a brutal murder in the staid Tokyo suburbs, as a young mother who works the night shift making boxed lunches strangles her abusive husband and then seeks the help of her coworkers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. The coolly intelligent Masako emerges as the plot's ringleader but quickly discovers that this killing is merely the beginning, as it leads to a terrifying foray into the violent underbelly of Japanese society.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Out...
- By Christopher on 06-24-16
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No Longer Human
- By: Osamu Dazai
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 186
Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life, even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. Oba Yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Reassuring in its bare-boned humanity
- By Michael - Audible Editor on 07-19-17
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The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 173
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4 out of 5 stars 157
A band of savage 13-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call 'objectivity'. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good Book
- By Gabriel Francy on 01-22-19
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1Q84
- By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin (translator), Philip Gabriel (translator)
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto, Marc Vietor, Mark Boyett
- Length: 46 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 8,290
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,421
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Story4 out of 5 stars 7,399
The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver's enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - "Q" is for "question mark". A world that bears a question....
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5 out of 5 stars
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I've never read a book quite like this one
- By Joey on 04-23-12
Publisher's Summary
Banana Yoshimoto's warm, witty, and heartfelt depictions of the lives of young Japanese have earned her international acclaim and best seller status, as well as a place among the best of contemporary Japanese literature. In Lizard, now available in Grove Press paperback, Yoshimoto deftly fuses traditional and pop culture to create contemporary portraits of love and life. These six tales explore themes of time, healing, and fate - and the journeys of self-discovery through which young urbanites come to terms with them.
In "Newlywed", an unhappily married young man deliberately misses his stop on the train, only to be questioned by a shape-shifting homeless man about the trials of his marriage. In "Blood and Water", a woman recalls how she left the village she grew up in - which was run by a New Age cult - in order to lead a fulfilling life, even against her parents' wishes. And in the title story, "Lizard", a woman who has never before felt truly secure in her life admits a deep secret to her lover - that she has the ability to heal others with her mind.
In different ways, these six stories explore what it takes to navigate the perils of the modern world as well as what it takes to reinvent one's self. Permeated by the author's own effervescent spin on magic realism, Lizard cements a special place for Yoshimoto in 20th-century Japanese fiction.
Critic Reviews
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