How Can My Manager Be So Stupid?

By (author) Hayami, Kazumasa; Translated by Trowell, Haydn
Short description/annotation:
Japanese booksellers loved this candid, funny story about what it''s really like to work with books. First in a trilogy that sold 500,000 copies in Japan.
Description:

''Silly, poignant, and utterly relatable'' Mara Faye Letham
''A charming, delightful gem'' Susan Coll
''A wry read perfect for anyone who''s ever worked in a customer facing job'' Mackenzie Reed

Kyoko Tanihara still loves books. Just about.

But life at the Musashino Bookstore is starting to get her down. Instead of promoting her favorite stories, she finds herself distracted, tearing her hair out at the mere sight of her infuriating manager, who can''t seem to do anything but get in her way of success.

From his obsession with self-help books to his "inspirational" speeches at staff meetings, everything about Takeru Yamamoto seems designed to set her teeth on edge. As the store lurches from crisis to crisis, facing criticism from customers and authors alike, only the prospect of changing a life by handing over the perfect book keeps her going.

Until one day she is handed a book that speaks to all her frustrations, and opens her eyes to an alarming possibility. What if there''s actually more to Yamamoto''s obnoxious antics than meets the eye? What if, just maybe, her manager isn''t so stupid after all?

How Can My Manager Be So Stupid is the perfect read for anyone who has felt that they can''t even . . . with the idiots that walk among us.

Translated from the Japanese by Haydn Trowell

Review quote:
Utterly delightful - the perfect mix of wry humor, fascinating characters, and heartfelt thoughts on what it means to understand the world through stories . . . It''s one of those rare books that, when I finished, I wanted to turn back to the first page and start again, greeting the characters like friends
Review quote:
Winsome, silly, poignant, and utterly relatable, How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? reminds us of the importance of both losing ourselves and finding ourselves in a good book.
Review quote:
Teeming with small bookish delights and hilarious bookish catastrophes, How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? is a love letter to books and bookstores and a charming, delightful gem
Review quote:
A wry read perfect for anyone who''s ever worked a customer-facing job and has felt their soul slowly wither away. How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? balances wit, humor, and heart to spin a compelling story filled with book love and big feelings
Review quote:
Perfectly wry
Biographical note:
Kazumasa Hayami is a writer and screenwriter, born in 1977 in Kanagawa Prefecture. His debut novel 108 was a bestseller and later made into a manga and a film. He won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award for his novel Innocent Days, and the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize for The Royal Family. His novels are almost all adapted for screen.