Earthlings

Praise for Earthlings:

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ ChoiceNamed a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, TIME and Literary HubNamed a Most Anticipated Book by the New York Times, TIME, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, the Guardian, Vulture, Wired, Literary Hub, Bustle, PopSugar, and Refinery29

“To Sayaka Murata, nonconformity is a slippery slope … Reminiscent of certain excellent folk tales, expressionless prose is Murata’s trademark … In Earthlings, being an alien is a simple proxy for being alienated. The characters define themselves not by a specific notion of what they are–other–but by a general idea of what they are not: humans/breeders … The strength of [Murata’s] voice lies in the faux-naïf lens through which she filters her dark view of humankind: We earthlings are sad, truncated bots, shuffling through the world in a dream of confusion.” –Lydia Millet, New York Times Book Review

“What does it mean to feel at home in the world? Natskui, the protagonist of this startling novel, doesn’t know: from a young age, she’s convinced that she has been contacted by aliens who will take her away from a middle-class Japanese life marked by cruelty … Murata takes a childlike idea and holds onto it with imaginative fervor, brilliantly exposing the callousness and arbitrariness of convention.” –New Yorker

“Shocking, hilarious, and hugely, darkly entertaining. Murata has crafted an unforgettable, original hybrid of absurd fantasy and stark realism.” –Financial Times

“A strange and dreamlike story of a young girl who comes to believe she’s an alien.” –USA Today

“As in Convenience Store Woman, Murata displays her gift for scrambling notions of utopia and dystopia to propulsive effect–only this time, her characters are convinced that they’re rebelling, not conforming … Murata manages what her characters cannot: She transcends society’s core values, to dizzying effect. As Earthlings swerves into violent, transgressive, fantastical territory, Murata–ever the good scientist–keeps us in thrall by never putting her thumb on the scale. Her matter-of-fact rendering of wild events is as disorienting as it is intriguing.” –Stephanie Hayes, Atlantic

“If you’re in the mood for weird, Sayaka Murata is always a reliable place to turn … [Earthlings] centers on Natsuki, a character whose story begins in childhood with her cousin in the mountains and spirals ever more darkly (and bizarrely) into adulthood and its many strange reckonings. This is a story that’s best not to spoil, but it will get into your head.” –Seattle Times

“A frequently disturbing but pacy read, with its own off-key humor.” –Guardian

“Horrifyingly bizarre and wildly transcendent … A powerfully good read.” –Yvonne C. Garrett, Brooklyn Rail

“A methodical descent into a very special, almost rational kind of madness … About far more than the endless trauma of fitting in. It’s a story about the mental gymnastics that lead us to strange and unearthly places in order to survive … Horror is often a mirror for things we’d rather not see, and sci-fi often a vehicle to places we’d rather be. Murata marries elements of both into one meticulous journey to the heart of human psychology.” –Alexis Ong, Tor.co

Sayaka Murata is the author of many books, including Convenience Store Woman, winner of the Akutagawa Prize. Murata has been named a Freeman’s “Future of New Writing” author, and a Vogue Japan Woman of the Year.

Ginny Tapley Takemori has translated works by more than a dozen Japanese writers, including Ryu Murakami. She lives at the foot of a mountain in Eastern Japan.