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.

Hardboiled & Hard Luck
First edition (Japanese)
AuthorBanana Yoshimoto
TranslatorMichael Emmerich
LanguageJapanese
PublisherGrove Press
Publication date
1999
Publication placeJapan
Published in English
2005
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages160 pp
ISBN0-8021-1799-6
OCLC57432320
895.6/35 22
LC ClassPL865.O7138 H3313 2005
Preceded byEnglish: Goodbye Tsugumi (novel) 

Plot summary

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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 perspective 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.

Book information

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Hardboiled & Hard Luck (English edition) by Banana Yoshimoto