Convenience Store Woman

　　社會的期待，究竟是什麼？

　　主角惠子在大學時期就開始在便利商店中打工。一開始父母都為其感到開心，日子久了，惠子也愛上這樣規律的生活。在這樣可預測的空間，給自幼個性不同的惠子帶來無比的安全感；似乎一本便利商店工作指南就可以填補她生活的一切。就這樣，十八年來惠子不曾換過工作，一直在便利商店打工。直到有一天一位新同事白羽闖進了她的生活。

　　惠子與白羽，一個看與被看的雙方，瑣碎的日常一一展開。面對劇中人物的選擇與生活模式，作者不帶任何批評的呈現給讀者，不論是同事與姊妹朋友的相處方式，日本社會的價值觀與期待，如何悄悄地加諸身上。透過惠子觸發人與人的連結，展現了人們在既定的社交網下如何發言與應對。更有甚者，如直接放棄與外界接觸的白羽，他的理想與行動。他們倆的相處過程，開始訴說外表下深刻的內心獨白。這是一本找回自我價值的小說，作者直白的敘事，抽絲剝繭，呈現赤裸的吶喊。（文 / 博客來編譯）

　　Keiko has never really fitted in. At school and university people find her odd and her family worries she’ll never be normal. To appease them, Keiko takes a job at a newly opened convenience store. Here, she finds peace and purpose in the simple, daily tasks and routine interactions. She is, she comes to understand, happiest as a convenience store worker. But in Keiko’s social circle it just won’t do for an unmarried woman to spend all her time stacking shelves and re-ordering green tea. As pressure mounts on Keiko to find either a new job, or worse, a husband, she is forced to take desperate action... A best-seller in Japan, and the winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, Convenience Store Woman marks the English-language debut of a writer who has been hailed as the most exciting voice of her generation.