Stephanie Tom’s Reviews > The Penguin Book of the International Short Story > Status Update
Stephanie Tom
is on page 20 of 448
Super Frog Saves Tokyo by Haruki Murakami
- this was my first intro to Murakami and I want to know what goes on inside his head
- quintessentially Japanese salaryman in the way that ordinary day-to-day happenings are so mundane in a painful way
- hallucinatory frog reads and quotes Joseph Conrad, Hemingway, and Dostoevsky … it would love Bungo Stray Dogs
- fascinatingly odd in a melancholy way
— Jun 24, 2026 06:57PM
- this was my first intro to Murakami and I want to know what goes on inside his head
- quintessentially Japanese salaryman in the way that ordinary day-to-day happenings are so mundane in a painful way
- hallucinatory frog reads and quotes Joseph Conrad, Hemingway, and Dostoevsky … it would love Bungo Stray Dogs
- fascinatingly odd in a melancholy way
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Stephanie’s Previous Updates
Stephanie Tom
is on page 96 of 448
The Flower Garden
- One of my favorite genres of short story: a character with a life inside their head and so much unsaid narration confronts their reality and is met with a logical extreme to solve their dilemma.
- Lovely characterization that draws you in immediately.
- In the same category of weird realism that Ling Ma's Bliss Montage encompasses
- Mieko Kawakami does it again!
— Jun 27, 2026 09:57AM
- One of my favorite genres of short story: a character with a life inside their head and so much unsaid narration confronts their reality and is met with a logical extreme to solve their dilemma.
- Lovely characterization that draws you in immediately.
- In the same category of weird realism that Ling Ma's Bliss Montage encompasses
- Mieko Kawakami does it again!
Stephanie Tom
is on page 69 of 448
One Minus One
- Thematically, like Scott Street by Phoebe Bridgers x Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens :')
— Jun 26, 2026 02:47PM
- Thematically, like Scott Street by Phoebe Bridgers x Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens :')
Stephanie Tom
is on page 56 of 448
My Sad Dead
- Always so interesting to see how other cultures characterize and commune with their ghosts, and always reminded of the tweet that mused how Central/South Americans are the best at writing magical realism because they don't shy away from said ghosts and all of the ugliness and empathy that comes with having them in our day-to-day lives.
War of the Clowns
- Jester's privilege for chaotic evil
— Jun 25, 2026 08:29PM
- Always so interesting to see how other cultures characterize and commune with their ghosts, and always reminded of the tweet that mused how Central/South Americans are the best at writing magical realism because they don't shy away from said ghosts and all of the ugliness and empathy that comes with having them in our day-to-day lives.
War of the Clowns
- Jester's privilege for chaotic evil
Stephanie Tom
is on page 32 of 448
The Illumination of Santiago
- Love how this story is a time capsule of one beautiful moment that is remembered still for its impact generations later with such reverence in which "we began cheating with time".
Apples
- Really enjoyed the way that this story was divided into four parts which so naturally unraveled into each other, like an unbroken apple peel. Each subject unfolded into each other's POV quite nicely.
— Jun 25, 2026 07:28PM
- Love how this story is a time capsule of one beautiful moment that is remembered still for its impact generations later with such reverence in which "we began cheating with time".
Apples
- Really enjoyed the way that this story was divided into four parts which so naturally unraveled into each other, like an unbroken apple peel. Each subject unfolded into each other's POV quite nicely.
