Name: The Lonesome Bodybuilder
ISBN: 9781593766788

Yukiko Motoya

Eleven surreal tales, set in the offices, zoos, bus stops, boutiques, and homes of contemporary Japan.

Stories

The Lonesome Bodybuilder

it's easy to pinpoint what the author wanted us to see here, and i appreciate her vision and quirky premises of magical realism, as well as her feminist insights, but the means used to communicate the messages are so poor for most of the stories it's genuinely awkward to stumble through the book, except for one gem which is disproportionately remarkable. maybe it's the short form to blame for such straightforward thoughts and conclusions, and sometimes just random absurdist gibberish. how to burden the girl both made me laugh and wonder if i lost my mind. what i find odd is that yukiko motoya is really good at building suspense (especially in the dogs) but is pathologically unable to hold the tension till the end and provide a satisfactory conclusion -- literally all stories, excluding an exotic marriage, suffer from this treatment. it’s so disappointing that you keep asking yourself if this narrative slumping is intentional self-sabotage. also, the order of the stories in this collection was not it, the ones from the 2nd half should have been opening the book to set the mood.

but! an exotic marriage, the longest story from the book, is executed much better than the rest, and the flow of the story felt more natural, coherent and mature, so maybe that's the form and length the author should have pursued. an exotic marriage is pure feminist horror, and i would recommend every young woman to experience this story once. i wish i could have met my mom as a girl and read it to her

lily lily 

it's easy to pinpoint what the author wanted us to see here, and i appreciate her vision and quirky premises of magical realism, as well as her feminist insights, but the means used to communicate the messages are so poor for most of the stories it's genuinely awkward to stumble through the book, except for one gem which is disproportionately remarkable. maybe it's the short form to blame for such straightforward thoughts and conclusions, and sometimes just random absurdist gibberish. how to burden the girl both made me laugh and wonder if i lost my mind. what i find odd is that yukiko motoya is really good at building suspense (especially in the dogs) but is pathologically unable to hold the tension till the end and provide a satisfactory conclusion -- literally all stories, excluding an exotic marriage, suffer from this treatment. it’s so disappointing that you keep asking yourself if this narrative slumping is intentional self-sabotage. also, the order of the stories in this collection was not it, the ones from the 2nd half should have been opening the book to set the mood.

but! an exotic marriage, the longest story from the book, is executed much better than the rest, and the flow of the story felt more natural, coherent and mature, so maybe that's the form and length the author should have pursued. an exotic marriage is pure feminist horror, and i would recommend every young woman to experience this story once. i wish i could have met my mom as a girl and read it to her




Lindy

I think there's an assumption that in becoming an adult, people have made peace with their essential selves, the essential selves of those around them, and the social roles they consciously and subconsciously fulfill. But this isn't true-- we still fear that we cannot ever fully know the strangers that lurk beneath our and our loved ones' public faces and we often don't know how to ask for what we want out of the world. I loved this collection's thematic and emotional maturity and Yukiko Motoya's sense of humor. 

Volume highlights: "The Lonesome Bodybuilder," "I Called You By Name," and "An Exotic Marriage"

JoAnna

Some stories were really strong, and some were really hard to get through. An Exotic Marriage (the longest story in the book) blew me away—I didn't sleep well for the few days following. I was initially drawn to the book by the concept of the first story, The Lonesome Bodybuilder, which I felt was a gentle and magical read. Motoya is amazing at making the fantastical & horrific seem normal and almost expected; none of the crazy happenings in these stories feel unrealistic or unbelievable. I also loved Fitting Room and The Dogs.

azliana aziz

Emily Ruth Carter

I agree with the rating average. Not quiiiiiite a 4, but def 3.5 or higher. Some of the short stories I loved, others I felt lukewarm about.

The Lonesome Bodybuilder Stories