Shigeru

Shigeru is the main character in the collection's title story "Where the Wild Ladies Are." One day when Shigeru comes home from university, he discovers his mother's hanged body in his childhood home. At her funeral, Shigeru reencounters his mother's old lover, and his birth father, Okumura. Though Okumura apologizes to Shigeru through sobs, Shigeru remains unaffected. Okumura used to spend time with Shigeru's family, but was never a real father to him. The main thing Shigeru remembers about him is that he once gave Shigeru a copy of the book Where the Wild Things Are. While reading the story, however, Shigeru became convinced Okumura loved his mother so much he would eat her, just like the wild things threatened to do to Max.

In the wake of his mother's death, Shigeru descends into a state of numbed despair. Though he has just received his college degree, he...