Audio only
Length3h 43m
About this audiobook
“A captivating exploration of gender dynamics, set against a background of the trying and confusing time of adolescence, when identity is in flux and everything in life is unstable and magical.” —Lydia Conklin, author of Rainbow Rainbow
A fresh, thoughtful, and always surprising short story collection from a rising young star in the world of Japanese literature.
Composed of the title novella and three short stories, People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice sensitively explores gender, friendship, romance, love, human interaction and its absence, and how a misogynistic society limits women and men.
In the title story, Nanamori and Mugito, two university students appalled by society’s gendered roles, rebel. Refusing to interact with other people they use stuffed toys for emotional support. Unlike Nanamori and Mugito, their fellow plushie society member Shiraki does not talk to plushies. Pragmatic, she accepts the status quo that boys sometimes make nasty jokes; she believes their behavior resembles the real world.
In “Realizing Fun Things Through Water,” a young woman named Hatsuoka must contend with a mother-in-law who swears by cancer-preventing “hyper-organization” water, and a sister who writes fake news for a living. “Bath Towel Visuals” illuminates the mental cost of not just laughing along at mean humor, while “Hello, Thank You I’m Okay” follows a family’s response when their shut-in son announces he wants to throw himself a birthday party.
Written in brisk and gentle prose, Ao Omae’s stories capture the subtleties and complexities of his characters’ inner world, individuals struggling to conform in an inflexible society little tolerant of difference. These stories, sometimes comical, sometimes bittersweet, and always thought-provoking, speak to the pain and desires of all who embrace nuance, repudiate traditional sex roles, and long for a gentler and more tolerant world.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★ 3.4 (728)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreFantasy, General Fiction
Length3 hrs 43 mins
Narrated byAndrew Grace
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 6, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The Song of AchillesMadeline Miller11h 15m4.3 (2.3M)$29 · $0.00
The Left and the LuckyWilly Vlautin6h 40m4.4 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
Hunt of the DragonJuliette Cross9h 46m4.4 (736)$20
Deadly GameChristine Feehan13h 20m4.3 (15.8K)$30
Sword and ShadowMichelle Sagara16h 51m4.5 (2.2K)$40 · $0.00
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith14h 55m4.4 (577.6K)$33 · $0.00
Dark GuardianChristine Feehan12h 32m4.5 (26.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m4.5 (3.2K)$53 · $0.00
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m4.4 (4.9M)$12 · $0.00
Bad HabitAlana S. Portero5h 37m4.4 (52.3K)$24 · $0.00
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m4.5 (2.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Edge of DawnBeverly Jenkins10h 15m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Tapestry of FateShannon Chakraborty20h 2m4.4 (3.4K)$46 · $0.00
The Lack of LightNino Haratischwili26h 20m4.4 (9.2K)$53 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
A Broken People's PlaylistChimeka Garricks6h 40m4.4 (3.7K)$24 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
The Truth About Ben and JuneAlex Kiester9h 12m3.8 (2.1K)$29 · $0.00
For LoveSue Miller13h 29m3.6 (2.5K)$33 · $0.00
Not Bad PeopleBrandy Scott17h 16m3.6 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The MissingC. L. Taylor9h 52m3.9 (49.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Real Mrs. TobiasSally Koslow9h 25m3.6 (3.6K)$29 · $0.00
The WivesTarryn Fisher9h3.7 (320.1K)$29 · $0.00
Clear and Convincing ProofKate Wilhelm8h 16m4.1 (2.5K)$17
A Life UnraveledJill Hannah Anderson9h 49m4.2 (3K)$20
When I Was YouAmber Garza9h 47m3.8 (21.9K)$29 · $0.00
The PlaygroundJane Shemilt9h 39m3.7 (7.1K)$29 · $0.00
When the Lights Go OutMary Kubica9h 53m3.5 (54.7K)$6 · $0.00
You Don’t Know MeSara Foster10h 24m3.7 (3K)$20 · $0.00
Bright ArrowsGrace Livingston Hill8h 19m4.1 (500)$1.20 · $0.00
She Loves Me NotWendy Corsi Staub9h 47m3.8 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Stranger GameCylin Busby6h 33m3.8 (2.7K)$24 · $0.00
The Money Club: from the bestselling Australian author of THE ACCIDENT, the sizzling unputdownable mystery novel of the yearFiona Lowe15h 52m4.1 (2.5K)$33 · $0.00
InsomniaSarah Pinborough10h 9m3.8 (48.3K)$29 · $0.00
The SisterN. Cross6h 5m4.2 (1.7K)$2.99 · $0.00
The Beautiful WordsVanessa McCausland11h 36m4.3 (1.2K)$29 · $0.00
Dr. FeelgoodChristian Keyes6h 11m4.1 (462)$17