Rabbits, Crabs, Etc.: Stories by Japanese Women by Phyllis Birnbaum

Rabbits, Crabs, Etc.: Stories by Japanese Women Reviews

• 
  Brittany

  I always wanted to have a copy of this ever since I read it in college--mostly because I really enjoy Kono Taeko, whose Crabs is featured in this collection, but the story about the rabbit-girl still makes me blaze right through it to the end. A rarity for me, considering that I do not often enjoy re-reading things I've read before nearly as much as others.
• 
  Anne

  Really only read the Fumiko Enchi short story.
• 
  Ernie

  I have read only a small portion of this, after buying it for two or three bucks from the University of Hawai'i Press during one of the clearance sales. Unfortunately it got thrown out, along with five or six hundred other books, when I unexpectedly have to leave out from my old living space.
  I've struggled to track down the name of this book, because I'd like to find out some information about one of the authors in this book. She wrote a story about becoming a rabbit and wearing its skin and fur on her naked body. Anyone got any info or just the authors name??
  Edit: Found her: Mieko.
• 
  Laurel

  An excellent collection of some very disparate Japanese authors. Birnbaum candidly chose works she prefers, and makes no pretense that this is a complete overview: the seemingly random nature of the collection and its lack of cohesion is both its strength and its weakness.
• 
  Rini

  To be honest there were only a couple of stories that I really enjoyed - Rabbits was one of them, as well as Fuji and Crabs. But the rest seemed to drag on and on, which is why it took me so long to finish this book even though it's quite small. I didn't originally realize that this collection was from 1982, and I'd love to see an updated edition. As with any anthology, the selection seems to reflect the author's personal tastes at least to some extent.
• 
  Chris

  there were some seriously appealing moments to some of these stories, but on the whole i thought the collection was ill-chosen. the translations were executed well, but i felt like there was an overall cohesion missing. oh, whatever. that's ok. if you want to read more stories by japanese women, check it out. if not, don't bother.
• 
  Eva

  Nothing like Higuchi but not bad at all.
• 
  Hesper

  Got this for the Fumiko Enchi story, which absolutely did not disappoint. That alone is worth the price of admission, but as it turned out the other stories pulled their weight. Yay.
• 
  David

  Really, the only good story is "Rabbits", but that may be the best story of all time.