the lonesome bodybuilder by yukiko motoya

Scar customer into leaving the changing room by telling her story.

Hence, there is a special joy and relish in following the protagonist’s internal debate over the matter, especially when she considers The female protagonist’s determination to uphold a high level of customer service with a mysterious client introduces an aspect of Japanese culture that may be new to some readers, and which has continued to fascinate me in its dichotomy to Western culture ever since I heard about it years ago. Others, like Motoya’s humorous critique of politeness in “Why I Can No Longer Look at a Picnic Blanket Without Laughing”, might be a bit less familiar. I decide who I am, and never consider other possibilities. Why had I never watched this kind of thing before? Pro wrestling, mixed martial arts -I’d assumed they weren’t for me. Some of them, like body image or gender roles in a relationship, may be familiar in their complexity to the Western reader, such as the words of the main character in the titular story when she sees a wrestling match on TV and wonders: On the other hand, it is the very nature of the satire and critiques that is worrisome, as well as the realization of how pervasive these issues are.

On the one hand, Motoya’s writing does not leave the reader guessing where the jabs and humour are, the emphasis integrated into the natural transitions in Motoya’s language. There is a dual sense of ease and discomfort to Motoya’s stories that feels like a bold challenge to the reader, one that invites you to engage with them but never get too comfortable. Motoya’s collection captures everyday truths as well as fears and hurdles, weaving commentary into them about issues like gender roles, class, and style in a way that is organic and, as a result, even more powerful and memorable. It was a collection that swallowed me into its pages with its quirky, magical and surreal, and, above all else, touchingly comical short stories. Such was my experience with Yukiko Motoya’s The Lonesome Bodybuilder, which defied my expectations in the most extreme and positive way possible. Only when you begin reading, when the first few pages begin to leave an imprint on you emotionally, and their significance trickles through like little pinpricks, that you realize you’ve come across something major. You don’t always know what you’re getting into when you pick up a book.

“Life’s not worth living if you’re not tending to the whims and demands of a high-maintenance lover!” The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya / Soft Skull Press / 224 pages / 978-1593766788 / 2018

The lonesome bodybuilder by yukiko motoya