Praise for All the Lovers in the Night
“Kawakami’s novel is uncompromisingly candid in its appraisal of the harm women inflict on one another, while never losing sight of the overarching structures that lead them to do so in the first place. Compact and supple, it’s a strikingly intelligent feat.”—Jo Hamya, The New York Times Book Review
“[An] engrossing, fine-boned new novel, deftly translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd....with this consummate novel, Kawakami’s star continues to rise, pulsing against a night that’s anything but holy.”—Hamilton Cain, The Washington Post
“Ascetic and deadpan...This novel doubles as a quiet appraisal of the structures that cause women to inflict harm on one another.”—Miguel Salazar, The New York Times Book Review
“The attention to sensory experience is particularly keen, concise, and meaningful...The startling vividness of Kawakami’s images draws the reader deeper into the emotional intensity of the scenes....[she] has good instincts for creating an air of suspense, although that’s not what sets her novels apart. It’s her ability to make the mere passing of time, choosing to step outside and be alive, seem like an event.”—Idra Novey, The Atlantic
★ “The author dazzles with her exploration of emotions... An invigorating and empowering portrait. It’s a winner.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
★ “Kawakami has created a rich and notable examination of the varied ways women choose to live their lives and the gains and losses that come with the choices they've made. Kawakami writes with the tender and incisive sensibilities of a poet.... An unforgettable and masterful work.”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
★ “Candid and searing, Kawakami's latest is another brilliantly rendered portal into young women’s lives.”—Booklist (Starred Review)
“Kawakami—the author of titles such as Breasts and Eggs and Heaven—has crafted another atmospheric, subtly beautiful novel.”—TIME Magazine (A Most Anticipated Book of May 2022)
“Her most accomplished novel yet…A contemporary Japanese master continues her meteoric rise into our literary firmament.”—Oprah Daily (A Most Anticipated Book of 2022)
“As one of the most insightful and important writers of our time, Mieko Kawakami delivers another extraordinary exploration of relationships, work and the intimate connections that (may) make it all worthwhile.”—Ms. Magazine
“[All the Lovers in the Night] is a tapestry of moments that leads to a subtle awakening of selfhood, along with an added element of romance. Beautifully translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, [Kawakami's] keen insight focuses not only on love and loneliness but also on work and personal fulfillment, office relationships and friendships, and standards of beauty and gendered expectations.”—Japan Times
“Brilliant prose underscores the pain and ecstasy of thriving in the margins.”—The Boston Globe
“By highlighting the inner lives of outsiders, Kawakami’s work takes aim at the social structures of class and gender. As in Breasts and Eggs, which explores reproductive autonomy, All the Lovers in the Night challenges societal strictures.”—Financial Times
“In contrast to the many suffocating (western) conventions of romantic storytelling, it is refreshing to encounter a book of such irresistible sweet melancholy.”—The Irish Times
Praise for Heaven and Breasts and Eggs
“An argument in favor of meaning, of beauty, of life.”—Nadja Spiegelman, The New York Times Book Review on Heaven
“You’re certain to be astonished by Kawakami’s latest novel exploring violence and bullying with fierce, feminist and damning candor.”—Ms. Magazine on Heaven
“Heaven shows us how to think about morality as an ongoing, dramatic activity. It can be maddening and ruinous and isolating. But it can also be shared, enlivened through writing and conversation, and momentarily redeemed through unheroic acts of solidarity.”—Merve Emre, The New Yorker
“Heaven is very likely to make you cry.”—Lily Meyer, NPR
“Kawakami is a rising young star in the literary scene.”—CNN Underscored
“Original and deeply moving… This book is a gift.”—Laura van den Berg on Breasts and Eggs
“Fantastic.”—Kat Chow, NPR, on Breasts and Eggs
“Stunning.”—Financial Times, on Breasts and Eggs
“Kawakami writes with unsettling precision about the body…she is especially good at capturing its longings.”—Katie Kitamura, The New York Times, on Breasts and Eggs
“I can never forget the sense of pure astonishment I felt when I first read Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs.”—Haruki Murakami
“A unique, direct voice—almost every page contains sentences that stop me in my tracks.”—Marta Bausells, LitHub
“Will transcend cultural barriers and enchant readers.”—Alina Cohen, New York Observer
★ 03/14/2022
Kawakami (Heaven) returns with a sensational story of loneliness and friendship. Fuyuko Irie, 34, is an asocial freelance proofreader in Tokyo with a repressed libido, self-described as possessing the “self-absorption of a single woman who nothing with her life but work.” Friendships elude her except when they’re related to her professional life, particularly her outspoken and free-thinking editor, Hijiri Ishikawa. In Fuyuko’s free time, she wanders aimlessly in the Shinjuku shopping district and binges on sake. Then, at a culture center, she meets Mitsutsuka, a considerably older high school physics teacher, who introduces her to Chopin’s soothing, transcendent “Berceuse” lullaby. They bond over theoretical discussions of quarks, string theory, and the physical and philosophical nature of the “mysteries of light” until Mitsutsuka reveals a disheartening truth about himself. The author dazzles with her exploration of emotions and intertwining of lofty discussions of metaphysics with descriptions of Fuyuko’s routines, making her an extraordinary character who moves effortlessly between different worlds as she struggles to find herself. Kawakami turns this study of a “dictionary definition of a miserable person,” as Fuyuko calls herself, into an invigorating and empowering portrait. It’s a winner. (May)
★ 2022-03-30
The acclaimed author of Breasts and Eggs (2020) and Heaven (2021) surprises again in this thoughtful book about women, loneliness, and relationships.
After seeing how miserable she looks in a reflection in a shop window, Fuyuko Irie, a freelance copy editor in her mid-30s, decides to enrich her solitary life. She begins by taking up drinking, which loosens her up and makes social interactions easier. Then she decides she should take a class at the local culture center, but after two attempts, she still doesn’t manage to register. Both times she goes to sign up for a class, she meets a man named Mitsutsuka in the lobby as a result of a mishap that brings them together. Mitsutsuka and Fuyuko begin meeting regularly at a cafe, where they talk about all sorts of things but mainly about “the mysteries of light.” While their relationship is important to Fuyuko’s development, the women in her life are even more important. Through Fuyuko and the women around her, Kawakami has created a rich and notable examination of the varied ways women choose to live their lives and the gains and losses that come with the choices they've made. Hijiri is the same age as Fuyuko but her total opposite. She’s sex positive, prizes her independence, and speaks her mind. Kyoko is the founder of her own business, more traditional, and critical of Hijiri’s lifestyle. Noriko is in a sexless marriage and loves being a mother, but both she and her husband are having affairs. Fuyuko’s indecisiveness, of course, results in discontentment. She says of herself, “I had faked it the whole way. In all those years of doing whatever I was told to do, I had convinced myself that I was doing something consequential, in order to make excuses for myself, as I was doing right now, and perpetually dismissed the fact that I’d done nothing with my life, glossing over it all.” Kawakami writes with the tender and incisive sensibilities of a poet. She never prescribes the right way to live, but Fuyuko becomes a happier person because of her relationships with others.
An unforgettable and masterful work.
