All the Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami
All the Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami
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All the Lovers in the Night

Author: Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett, David Boyd

Narrator: Mirai Booth-Ong

Unabridged: 7 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/02/2022

Synopsis

The bestselling author of Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami invites listeners back into her immediately recognizable fictional world with this new, extraordinary novel and demonstrates yet again why she is one of today’s most uncategorizable, insightful, and talented novelists.Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copyeditor in her mid-thirties. Working and living alone in a city where it is not easy to form new relationships, she has little regular contact with anyone other than her editor, Hijiri, a woman of the same age but with a very different disposition. When Fuyoku stops one day on a Tokyo street and notices her reflection in a storefront window, what she sees is a drab, awkward, and spiritless woman who has lacked the strength to change her life—and decides to do something about it.As the long overdue change occurs, however, painful episodes from Fuyuko’s past surface and her behavior slips further and further beyond the pale.All the Lovers in the Night is acute and insightful, entertaining and engaging; it will make listeners laugh, and it will make them cry, but it will also remind them, as only the best books do, that sometimes the pain is worth it.

About Mieko Kawakami

Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally bestselling novel, Breasts and Eggs, named a best book of the year by the New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, and others. She made her literary debut as a poet in 2006 and published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World, in 2007. Her writing is known for its poetic qualities and its insights into the female body, ethical questions, and the dilemmas of modern society. She has received numerous prestigious literary awards in Japan, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. She was born in Osaka, Japan.

About Sam Bett

Sam Bett studied Japanese at UMass-Amherst and Kwansei Gakuin University. Awarded Grand Prize in the 2016 JLPP International Translation Competition, he has translated fiction by Yoko Ogawa, Yukio Mishima, and Nisio Isin. He also cohosts Us&Them, a Brooklyn-based reading series showcasing the work of writers who translate. His translation of Yukio Mishima’s Star won the 2019 Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC) Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.

About David Boyd

David Boyd is assistant professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has translated novels and stories by Hiroko Oyamada, Masatsugu Ono, and Toh EnJoe, among others. His translation of Hideo Furukawa’s Slow Boat won the 2017/2018 Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC) Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature.

About Mirai Booth-Ong

Mirai is a proud two-time Audie Award finalist. Her bright, youthful voice brings life to YA, chick lit, and book club fiction, especially those centering around female leads. From sweet to sarcastic, bubbly to dry, Mirai's comedic sensibility and zest for storytelling has been honed through her BFA in acting and over twenty years of experience as an actor on stage and screen, as well as behind the mic. Brought up in Japan and Singapore by Malaysian-Chinese and British parents (an author and editor!), her international background brings authenticity to global stories and accented characters. Mirai is a trained singer in Broadway styles, and can often be found acting in or directing a musical or play in the LA region. She has also worked at Universal Studios as a Studio Guide for over ten years, and is a Back to the Future expert. In her spare time, Mirai loves to knit while rewatching sitcoms and The Great British Bake Off, huddled in a cuddle with her dog and two cats.

Reviews

Goodreads review by s.penkevich

‘I became unsure of how to leave the mirror, how to leave the me in the mirror behind.’ Mieko Kawakami writes stories that have an uncanny ability to nestle into my mind and make themselves at home long after I finish reading them. Her stories are like the waters of a pond in some idyllic grove, her......more

Goodreads review by emma

sometimes you find an author whose books you'll buy automatically. sometimes you find an author who you just know isn't for you. sometimes you find an author and you're in awe of how their brain works. mieko kawakami is the latter, for me. i love a sad girl book at the worst of times (and especially any......more

Goodreads review by Elora :-)

i know the proofreader of this book was shitting their pants......more

Goodreads review by Liong

A story about a single lady working as a proofreader and her relationships with friends and a so-called lover. The flow of the story is a bit depressing and surprising. Well, I enjoyed reading it. 😍......more

Quotes

“[An] atmospheric, subtly beautiful novel.” Time

“Brilliant prose underscores the pain and ecstasy of thriving in the margins.” Boston Globe

“[An] extraordinary exploration of relationships, work, and the intimate connections that (may) make it all worthwhile.” Ms. Magazine

“[An] 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.” New York Times Book Review

“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

“By highlighting the inner lives of outsiders, Kawakami’s work takes aim at the social structures of class and gender.” Financial Times (London)

“In contrast to the many suffocating (western) conventions of romantic storytelling, it is refreshing to encounter a book of such irresistible sweet melancholy.” Irish Times (Dublin)

“[A] brilliantly rendered portal into young women’s lives.” Booklist (starred review)

“The author dazzles with her exploration of emotions…It’s a winner.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“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.” Kirkus Review (starred review)

Awards

  • Indie Next List
  • Entertainment Weekly Pick
  • New York Times Book Review pick
  • National Book Critics Circle Award
  • Time Magazine Best Book
  • Washington Post Best Book
  • Oprah.com Best Books of the Year
  • Publishers Weekly Best Book
  • Literary Hub Pick
  • Seattle Times Pick
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