The Dilemmas of Working Women by Fumio Yamamoto

A spiky, edgy collection of five sly yet sensitive stories spotlighting clear-eyed and "difficult" women navigating their identities as workers and women in contemporary Japan. This feminist, anti-capitalist modern classic—first published in Japan in 2000 as a bestselling sensation winning the prestigious Naoki Prize—explores women who chafe against social expectations that equate work with worth. Darkly witty and astonishingly relevant, Yamamoto's groundbreaking work examines ambivalent protagonists who resist dehumanizing roles in a world built by and for men. Available for the first time in English, translated by Brian Bergstrom.