This book is not one of the several books Yashimoto is noted for but it is definitely a worthy addition to her oeuvre.  It’s comprised of 6 seemingly light and elegant short stories dealing  how young middle class urban singles in Japan of the 21st century find and love healing, while breaking away from a society of conformity and high expectations.

Lizard 
by Banana Yoshimoto   
1995 – 129 pages HC
(Translated by Ann Sherif) 
Read by Emily Zeller – 3h 34m
Rating:  8.75 / short stories 

The second and last stories really caught my attention.  In Lizard, the second story, the male 1st person narrator, a therapist, falls in love with a young autistic woman, an acupuncturist, with special healing powers.  His approach to her and their opening up to each other are very sensitively told.  

The last story, “A Strange Tale from Down by the River,” is about a young woman who has been running away from a difficult past and has found love but the man here has problems, too.