{"product_id":"the-dilemmas-of-working-women-stories-9780063423589","title":"The Dilemmas of Working Women: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA spiky, edgy collection of five sly yet sensitive stories spotlighting clear-eyed and \"difficult\" women who are navigating their identities as workers and women in contemporary Japan--a feminist, anti-capitalist modern classic published outside Asia and in English for the first time.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Dilemmas of Working Women\u003c\/em\u003e is Fumio Yamamoto's darkly witty look at modern Japanese women who are ambivalent about their lives and jobs. In \"Naked,\" a woman who's simultaneously lost her business and her husband finds that it is surprisingly comfortable to stay at home sewing stuffed animals, even if it makes her a \"loser\" in the eyes of society. In \"Planarian,\" a young woman recovering from breast cancer tells her friends and boyfriend that she would prefer to be the titular worm to organically regenerate her body. Each of these spiky women--as well as the three other protagonists in this groundbreaking work--chafes against social expectations that equate work with worth and demand women squeeze into the confining and sometimes dehumanizing role of employee in a world built by and for men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in Japan in 2000, \u003cem\u003eThe Dilemmas of Working Women\u003c\/em\u003e struck a nerve with Japanese readers and became a bestselling literary sensation, selling nearly half a million copies and winning the prestigious Naoki Prize in Literature. A quarter of a century later, this brilliant modern classic--available for the first time outside Asia and in English--remains deliciously funny and astonishingly relevant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslated from the Japanese by Brian Bergstrom\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harpervia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/12\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780063423589\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288","brand":"Fumio Yamamoto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51230799364277,"sku":"9780063423589","price":22.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_e335852f-bac0-46dd-9e78-645b6dc31141.jpg?v=1750170299","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-dilemmas-of-working-women-stories-9780063423589","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}