Fleming, Michael (2004-06-29). "New Line thrills to 'Out' with Nakata". Variety . Retrieved 2007-05-22. The novel tells the tales of four women, working the graveyard shift at a Japanese bento factory. All four women live hard lives. Masako, the leader of the four women, feels completely alienated from her estranged husband and teenage son. Kuniko, a plump and rather vain girl, has recently been ditched by her boyfriend after the couple were driven into debt, leaving Kuniko to fend off a loan shark. Yoshie is a single mother and reluctant caretaker of her mother-in-law, who was left partly paralyzed after a stroke. Yayoi is a thirty-four-year-old mother of two small boys who she is forced to leave home alone, where they are abused by their drunken, gambling father, Kenji. Kirino is the middle child of three. [3] She has two brothers, one who is six years older and one who is five years younger. [3] Her father was an architect. [2] Kirino has lived in many different cities, including her current residence, Tokyo. [3] Kirino married in 1975 [2] and had a daughter in 1981. [3]

Out (original title: Auto), trans. Stephen Snyder (New York: Kodansha, 2003; New York: Vintage, 2005) Rebecca L. Copeland, "Woman Uncovered: Pornography and Power in the Detective Fiction of Kirino Natsuo", Japan Forum 16/2 (2004): 249–69.

Riaru warudo (Tokyo: Shueisha, 2003); English translation by J. Philip Gabriel as Real World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) Joshinki (Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as The Goddess Chronicle (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2013) Natsuo Kirino ( 桐野 夏生, Kirino Natsuo) (born October 7, 1951, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, [1] a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction. [2] Biography [ edit ]

The Goddess Chronicle (original title: Joshinki), trans. Rebecca Copeland (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2013)Gurotesuku (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2003); English translation by Rebecca L. Copeland as Grotesque (New York: Knopf, 2007) In addition to comparisons with hardboiled crime fiction, Kirino's work has been compared with horror fiction (the gruesome dismemberment scenes in Out, for example) and proletarian literature such as Kanikōsen. [8]

a b c d e Kirino, Natsuo (2009). "About Her". Bubblonia. Natsuo Kirino . Retrieved 4 November 2013. Her work is reminiscent of American hardboiled detective stories, but her use of multiple narratives and perspectives provide "no authoritative master narrative . . . that finally reassures the reader which of the many voices one is to trust". [2] Her prose style has been described as "flat," "functional," and "occasionally illuminated by a strange lyricism." [9] Unlike most hardboiled fiction, Kirino's novels often feature a female protagonist such as her detective Miro Murano, who complicates the typical hardboiled role of females by becoming both detective and victim. [10] By doing this, Kirino "implicates [the reader] in the voyeuristic pleasure of the detective genre by making [the reader] conscious of [the] act of watching." [10] Kirino said she is fascinated by human nature and what makes someone with a completely clean record suddenly turn into a criminal. This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. ( April 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) a b c d Davis, J. Madison (January–February 2010). "Unimaginable Things: The Feminist Noir of Natsuo Kirino". World Literature Today. 84 (1): 9–11. Mina Qiao, Women in the Maze – Space and Gender in Kirino Natsuo's Writings. Münchner Schriftenreihe Japanforschung. Projekt Verlag. 2019.Most of Kirino's novels center upon women and crime. Typically, in her novels, such as Out, Kirino mainly focuses on women who do unimaginable things, which is why her books can be considered as “feminist noir.” [5] She writes in a convincing, realistic type of way, which leads to the greatness of her work stemming from "her ability to put us inside the skins of these women.” [5] This focus on more realistic portrayals of Japanese women seems to be a trademark of her work, found in many of her novels such as Grotesque. [7] She is also committed to giving women recognition in Japanese literature, where they are often resigned to sexual and domestic roles. The author recounts how a young man once told her that until he read Out, he “never realized that regular middle aged women actually had a life.” [1] Society, she says, takes advantage of powerless women and it is her goal to create empowered female characters to show readers the power of the “weaker sex.” [1] For these reasons, she has been called the "queen of Japanese crime." [9] In fact, the plot of Out has been described as a framework for her critique of "the problems of ordinary women in contemporary Japanese society." [9] Works in English translation [ edit ] Crime/thriller novels a b c d Poole, Stephen (26 November 2004). "Murder Sushi Wrote". The Guardian . Retrieved 12 December 2013. Daring and disturbing, OUT is prepared to push the limits of this world - not only in violence and sex but also in human outlook… Remarkable Los Angeles Times verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{