"Ms. Yoshimoto's writing is lucid, earnest and disarming . . . [It] seizes hold of the reader's sympathy and refuses to let go." –Michiko Kakutani,
The New York Times "Banana Yoshimoto is a master storyteller. . . . The sensuality is subtle, masked, and extraordinarily powerful. The language is deceptively simple." –
Chicago Tribune "Yoshimoto shouldn't be shy about basking in her celebrity. Her achievements are already legend."–
The Boston Globe "A meditation on the transience of beauty and love...Melancholy and lovely." -
The Washington Post Book World