Convenience Store Woman

Sayaka Murata

Granta, 2019 - Conformity - 163 pages

Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis--but will it be for the better? Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko's thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - jonerthon - LibraryThing

The food critic Ruth Reichl recommended this title in a long list of food-related fiction, and I'm glad she did! The protagonist, Keiko, is a woman in her mid-thirties that has happily worked in a ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - steve02476 - LibraryThing

Peculiar novel about a very odd woman who dedicates her life to the convenience store where she has worked all of her adult life. Very funny and also kind of spooky - nothing supernatural but a good ...

About the author

One of the most celebrated of the new generation of Japanese writers, Sayaka Murata has won not only the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, but the Gunzo, Noma, and Mishima Yukio Prizes as well. Her story, 'A Clean Marriage', was featured in Granta 127 Japan. She is 38 years old and works part-time in a convenience store.

Ginny Tapley Takemori has translated Ryu Murakami, Miyabe Miyuki, Akiyuki Nosaka, and Kyotaro Nishimura, among others. Her translation of Tomiko Inui's The Secret of the Blue Glass was shortlisted for the Marsh Award.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Convenience Store Woman
• Author: Sayaka Murata
• Translated by: Ginny Tapley Takemori
• Publisher: Granta, 2019
• ISBN: 1846276845, 9781846276842
• Length: 163 pages