Strange, enthralling, and obsessive. People from My Neighborhood is some of the best Japanese short fiction out there. Using a microscopic lens to tell unexpected stories, Kawakami's tales weave a tale of the weirdest community that somehow feels all too familiar.

These 26 short stories (extremely short) pack a delightful, exotic experience for readers!

"Once it became clear that the town would have nothing to do with it, the housing development struck out on its own, erecting its own school, post office, town hall, shops, office buildings —the whole works. It even minted its own currency, with a creepy symbol of six heads clumped together."

It's quirky, and fun. I'm not sure exactly what I was reading, but it was surely inventive. Stories about a little bar and restaurant called The Love, a child (or dog, can't be quite sure) living under a tree, & doll brains are sure to entertain.

All I can say is this neighborhood has a lot going on and it's definitely worth visiting.

A delightfully distinct collection of short stories that explores the various characters in a neighborhood. Running the gambit from ordinary to fantastical, these stories are engaging and transporting.

PEOPLE FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD by Hiromi Kawakami translated from the Japanese by Ted Goossen is a fabulous book! I loved it! These interconnected stories feature children to seniors and the contrast of everyday life and the mythical. I loved the touches of humour and fantasy. This book totally appeals to my love of translated fiction and short stories! I also love the cover!!
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Thank you to Soft Skull Press via NetGalley for my review copy!

This was a fun quick collection to read but I feel like I've already forgotten the first few stories. I am very excited to read a full-length tale by Hiromi Kawakami though.

First, I need to say that I would pay good money for this in audiobook. I know it would be incredibly short, but there are just some stories/books that you need to hear aloud- it adds something. I can imagine a woman sitting in front of her house, curled up in a chair on the porch, spilling the tea as it were. This has everything from mundane neighborhood gossip to what I would call fish tales- those stories that defy belief (“I swear Bob, the fish was THIS big, took me all over that lake, it did”- you know the kind.) Then, of course it incorporates my favorite parts of magical realism.

I adored the short stories and tidbits, how everything kind of linked loosely together. It was well written and incredibly interesting! I keep thinking that there’s going to be one story that was my favorite… but really, I loved them all. Whether we were talking about the mundane- like that restaurants’ menu, or terrible gossip- like how she discussed stories about “that girl”, or going into the more fanciful aspects of neighborhood life- like the story of the child that lived under the tree or the story about how babies are made. Seriously, I was here for all of it! For me, this is a five-star book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
As far as adult content goes, there’s some language and the like, but I found it very tame. I would say that this one is safe for any age.


I had the good fortune of receiving an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Soft Skull Press in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!

What these stories capture for me, more than the imagination of the author, is her understanding of the human condition. Our capacity for observing and absorbing; regurgitating and creating from that, a tale that is both real and unreal, that straddles the fence demarcating reality and surrealism.

Because we love to create and we love to create with more than what we have. These stories are elusive yet familiar. Every neighbourhood has that one kid, that one dog, that old lady, and that homeless yet talented person.

They are short, bizarre, and absurd, but in such an enjoyable way, even when they confound, there is a certain attractiveness about the characters and their ways of being and interacting that make this neighbourhood in all its weird glory, recognizable.

These short short stories will pull you in, engage your imagination and quite possibly help get over a reading slump.

Park your expectations for straightforward narratives within the twenty-six short, two to six page interconnected stories in this collection, because that’s not what you’ll find here.
All set within an unnamed neighbourhood, and told by an unnamed narrator, the stories in this collection relate the happenings and relationships within a neighbourhood, such as:
-A lottery for Hachirō, where the losing family must take care of young Hachirō for three, successive months.
-Or the Music House within which one can only enter on one’s birthday at 3 PM for an experience.
-Or Kanae’s older sister who developed the ability to speak the words of dead people after entering a particular apartment in the neighbourhood.

I loved how the author used recurring characters in multiple stories: Kanae, Dog School Principal, Midori, Hachirō, Kiyoshi, Old Man Shadows, chicken farmer, the woman who owned and ran the Love convenience store….creating the feel of a lived-in place, but where the bizarre meets the mundane, and it’s all just normal here.
It’s a surreal, strange set of people and stories, and I think I enjoyed this collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Soft Skull Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This is one of the strangest books I read. I am not sure I understood this point, but these small snapshots of people did nothing for my reading experience. It just felt disjointed.

These stories were clever and witty! I found them creative.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightfully weird little book. Each story felt like it was just the right length, with just the right amount of strangeness. I especially enjoyed all the recurring neighborhood characters and actually my only complaint is that some of them didn't get the page time they deserved.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, off-beat read. It's definitely made me interested in reading more of Kawakami's work.

Each story was like a snapshot - barely a couple pages long - yet brimming with quirky characters and magical realism. A very strange, out-of-this-world collection of stories that are a wonderful escape from the doldrums of real life. As a translated work, I can only imagine that Kawakami has a staccato, punchy writing style. It's not for everyone, but I enjoyed this weird and endearing collection.

This was not for me. Maybe it was the editing or translation? Every story was weirdly dry and made no sense. There was no flow of stories, they seemed forced to be in the book together. Maybe I, missing something.

Beautifully written micro fiction with characters that interconnect.A masterful clever collection that I will be recommending.#netgalley#catapult.

This was a great read. Imaginative short stories that were well written and left me thinking about what it would be like if some of these stories were true. I would definitely recommend others check it out as it was a fun, quick read that was quite interesting.

Lovely collection of microfiction with characters who interconnect. The characters are beautifully, quickly and masterfully drawn. But, the whole of the compilation has a nice flow as well.