All the Lovers in the Night

This pared-back and intense analysis of female isolation in a modern city breaks all the rules of ‘good writing.’ Telling not showing; unrelievedly inward; arguably solipsistic; it charts the descent of a conscientious copywriter into drunken depression. Could an off-beat relationship with a man who seems to care about her, for what she is, possibly haul her back into a functioning life?

In its totally absorbing dramatization of our hopes, desires, disappointments, and perennial insecurities, this book shows our flawed and fragile human selves in remorseless clarity. At the same time, it gives hope in the value of human affection… show more.

I often read Japanese literature to access different perspectives into modern Japanese society that diverge from news media accounts and the research that I do. Kawakami, whose provocative Breasts and Eggs took on issues rarely discussed in polite Japanese society, has written yet another stunning thriller about the everyday life of a rather ordinary woman. 

Encountering a traumatic encounter in her teen years, the main character in All the Lovers in the Night is plagued by social anxiety and chooses a profession in editing that allows her to be immersed in language and writing.

While obliterated by demanding work finding… show more.