How Can My Manager Be So Stupid?: The outrageously entertaining Japanese bestseller about a bookstore clerk clinging onto her love for books against all odds

Kazumasa Hayami
Translated by Haydn Trowell
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How Can My Manager Be So Stupid?: The outrageously entertaining Japanese bestseller about a bookstore clerk clinging onto her love for books against all odds

Kazumasa Hayami
Translated by Haydn Trowell
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272 PAGESENGLISH

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"The novel is dryly humorous with an entertaining ending that may divide readers. A cathartic and witty novel that underscores the power of a good book—and a good bookstore." —Kirkus Reviews

"Utterly delightful—the perfect mix of wry humor, fascinating characters, and heartfelt thoughts on what it means to understand the world through stories. It was a treat to sink into this witty bookish world, and the main character balances both cynicism and optimism on a knife edge, which is so very relatable in this uncertain world. It’s one of those rare books that, when I finished, I wanted to turn back to the first page and start again, greeting the characters like friends." —Kristen Perrin, New York Times bestselling author of How to Solve Your Own Murder

"On the cusp of thirty, bookseller Kyoko Tanihara lives paycheck to paycheck, alone in a tiny book-filled apartment, juggling her jaded frustrations with the retail hierarchy and her earnest, ardent love for reading. Winsome, silly, poignant, and utterly relatable, How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? reminds us of the importance of both losing ourselves and finding ourselves in a good book." —Mara Faye Lethem, author of A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small and translator of Beatriz Serrano's Discontent

"Teeming with small bookish delights and hilarious bookish catastrophes, How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? is a love letter to books and bookstores and a charming, delightful gem." —Susan Coll, USA Today bestselling author of Bookish People and forthcoming Word Salad

"A wry read perfect for anyone who’s ever worked a customer-facing job and has felt their soul slowly wither away. How Can My Manager Be So Stupid? balances wit, humor, and heart to spin a compelling story filled with book love and big feelings." —Mackenzie Reed, author of I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell

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  • Published date: Sep 01, 2026
  • Language: English
  • No. of Pages: 272
  • Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
  • ISBN: 9798217182299
  • Dimensions: 5.188" W x 0.688" L x 8.0" H
Kazumasa Hayami is a writer, born in 1977 in Kanagawa Prefecture. His debut novel 108 was a bestseller and later made into a manga and a film. He won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award for his novel Innocent Days, and the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize for The Royal Family (Passing the Reins). His novels are almost all adapted for screen.

Haydn Trowell is an Australian translator of Japanese literature whose work has appeared in Granta, Electric Literature, and Words Without Borders. He has translated fiction by major prize-winning authors such as Yasunari Kawabata, Maki Kashimada, and Rie Qudan, and he has worked extensively with publishers in Australia, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.. Haydn holds a PhD in translation studies from Monash University and has a background in both translation and creative writing.

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