Eduardo Santiago reviewed Lonesome Bodybuilder by Asa Yoneda
Review of 'Lonesome Bodybuilder' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Surreal and absurd: it sounded so promising, but halfway through I suspected it would leave me unsatisfied and so it did. The story ideas are whimsically creative. The writing, even in translation, engaging. There’s just... no development maybe? No followthrough? It’s not that they don’t go anywhere, more like there’s so much energy at the start of each story, promise and possibility, but each time it just fizzles.
The fault could easily be in me. Perhaps the intention is for the reader to develop the seeds Motoya plants. I tried a few times, closing my book and my eyes at the end of a story and pondering what-thens, but for the most part wasn’t moved to do so: each story ends flatly, on notes of loneliness that (for me) didn’t encourage reflection.