Rental Person Who Does Nothing
Shoji Morimoto, Don Knotting
£14.99
Mr B's review
After his boss told him he was worthless, Morimoto quit his job and set up his Rental Person Who Does Nothing service, where he hires himself out to do… nothing! Need another player for a game? Someone to share a beer with? A park bench reserving? He’s your man! Morimoto explores loneliness, the value of the individual, the cruelties of capitalism, and the peculiarities of Japanese culture in this heartwarming memoir.
Description
Need a rental person who does nothing?
Shoji Morimoto provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. After an old boss told him that he contributed nothing and that it made no difference whether he showed up to work or not, he wondered if a person who ‘does nothing’ could still have a place in the world. With a tweet, his Rental Person service was born.
– Have a deep secret you desperately need to reveal, so deep that you can’t tell a friend or family member?
– Have you spent a long time home alone, and want to know what it’s like to have somebody with you at your apartment?
– Or for someone to simply think of you on a stressful day? Or wave to you as you leave the train station on a long journey?
Morimoto is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger throughout each request, and his encounters are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology.
In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.
Find this book on the following lists
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What I’ve Been Reading Recently – Tom M (Sep ’23)
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