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There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

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There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

By: Kikuko Tsumura, Polly Barton - translator
Narrated by: Cindy Kay
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About this listen

A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: It’s close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and, ideally, very little thinking.

Her first gig - watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods - turns out to be inconvenient. (When can she go to the bathroom?) Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job - writing trivia for rice cracker packages and punching entry tickets to a purportedly haunted public park - it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all but something altogether more meaningful. But when she finally discovers an alternative to the daily grind, it comes with a price.

This is the first time work by Kikuko Tsumura - winner of Japan's most prestigious literary award - and has been translated into English. There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job is as witty as it is unsettling - a jolting look at the maladies of late capitalist life through the unique and fascinating lens of modern Japanese culture.

©2021 Kikuko Tsumura (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC City Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Women's Fiction City Witty

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All stars
Most relevant  
Loved this book and it's interesting stories. No crime, sex, romance, egos or ugly conflict. Just some good stories which kept me gripped throughout.

Refreshingly different

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I don’t normally write reviews, but not only is this story relatable to people who have gone from job to job or suffered burnout, the narrator is incredibly good. Her voices and intonation are incredibly

Excellent narration

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I absolutely loved this story. It was almost like a bunch of shorts that were linked together in their theme. I also loved that the narrator knew how to pronounce Japanese names and places as so often this isn’t the case, which can be jarring. I loved listening to this audio and I have already listened to it twice as there were so many little great bits in it. Very very good!

Excellent narration brilliant funny and weird story

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There are lots of interesting starts and strange happenstance that you wish would be followed up on. the end of the book simply says wow these five jobs were really easy but actually very hard. I guess I’ll just go back to my real job now I’ve had a chance to recharge my batteries. Little disappointing. Would not recommend. 

Lots of short stories that don’t really go anywhere

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