Hardboiled & Hard Luck (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = Hardboiled & Hard Luck
title_orig =
translator = Michael Emmerich


image_caption = US edition Cover
author = Banana Yoshimoto
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = Japan
language = Japanese
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Grove Press
release_date = 1999
english_release_date = 2005
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 160 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-8021-1799-6
preceded_by = English: Goodbye Tsugumi (novel)
followed_by =

"Hardboiled & Hard Luck" (ハードボイルド／ハードラック Alt: Hādoboirudo. English) is a novel written by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto in 1999 and translated into English in 2005 by Michael Emmerich.

Plot summary

This book consists of two separate stories, making up the two parts of the book's title. The first story, "Hardboiled", is written from the perpective of a woman who is hiking alone, passes a strange shrine and ends up in a hotel with a couple of surreal incidents that follow. Her back story is filled in as a mixture of narrative and dream sequences. The second story, "Hard Luck", is about a woman whose sister Kuni is in a coma. Kuni's fiancé leaves her after the incident, but his brother continues to visit. It becomes apparent that he is interested in the protagonist of the story.

The 1st story seems to be very much a Japanese one and the second could be in most cultures.

Book information

"Hardboiled & Hard Luck" (English edition) by Banana Yoshimoto
* Hardcover – ISBN 0-8021-1799-6, published by Grove Press

it:H/H