When author Shoji Morimoto decided to change careers, he struggled to find the perfect fit. After leaving an unsatisfying career in a company where he didn’t feel comfortable and his boss derided both his efforts and his personality, he tried freelance writing and blogging, but he became bored and lost interest. Inspired by a blog post by Japanese therapist Jinnosuke Kukoroya arguing that people have value even if they do nothing, he developed a service in which he fulfills requests from strangers to just “be there” for them when they need it. Asking only for transport and meal costs (if applicable), Morimoto performs any number of acts as long as he doesn’t have to actually do anything or provide more than a simple response. Examples of tasks he has taken on include sitting and watching while someone works, attending events, seeing someone off at the airport and waving goodbye, and sitting in the park and having a drink. He shares his experiences by tweeting to his many followers. In this memoir, Morimoto writes about his experiences and speculates about what they mean to the people who request help from him. This is a fascinating and oddly endearing memoir.
A version of this review has been previously published by Library Journal here.
No comments:
Post a Comment