Banana Yoshimoto

Author profile

born

in Tokyo, Japan

July 24, 1964

gender

female

website

http://www.yoshimotobanana.com

twitter username

y_banana

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Banana Yoshimoto (よしもとばなな ) (born July 24, 1964[1], in Tokyo) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本真秀子 Yoshimoto Mahoko), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana.

Yoshimoto, daughter of Takaaki Yoshimoto, was born in Tokyo on July 24, 1964. Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a...more

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Banana Yoshimoto's Books

Average rating: 3.67 · 32,500 ratings · 2,354 reviews · 80 distinct works · Similar authors

	Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translation) 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 13,243 ratings — published 1988 — 51 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto, Ann Sherif (Translation) 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 3,257 ratings — published 1990 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Asleep 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 2,895 ratings — published 1989 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodbye Tsugumi 3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 avg rating — 2,888 ratings — published 1989 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lizard 3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 avg rating — 2,440 ratings — published 1993 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amrita 3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 avg rating — 2,022 ratings — published 1994 — 23 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hardboiled and Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto, Michael Emmerich (Translator) 3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 avg rating — 1,522 ratings — published 2001 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto, Michael Emmerich (Translator) 3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 avg rating — 1,536 ratings — published 2005 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Honeymoon by Banana Yoshimoto, Giorgio Amitrano (Translator) 3.23 of 5 stars 3.23 avg rating — 288 ratings — published 1997 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	L'abito di piume by Banana Yoshimoto, よしもとばなな (吉本ばなな), Alessandro Giovanni Gerevini (Translator) 3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 294 ratings — published 2003 — 8 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Banana Yoshimoto

“Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.”
― Banana Yoshimoto

276 people liked it

“Even when I try to stir myself up, I just get irritated because I can't make anything come out. And in the middle of the night I lie here thinking about all this. If I don't get back on track somehow, I'm dead, that's the sense I get. There isn't a single strong emotion inside me.”
― Banana Yoshimoto

tags: apathy, depression, kitchen

210 people liked it

“Love is the kind of thing that's already happening by the time you notice it, that's how it works, and no matter how old you get, that doesn't change. Except that you can break it up into two entirely distinct types -- love where there's an end in sight and love where there isn't.”
― Banana Yoshimoto, Goodbye Tsugumi

tags: love

175 people liked it

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