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What would happen if the “Night at the Museum” movies (you know the ones – starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke…) were bite-sized, surreal and an allegory for our various anxieties, idiosyncrasies, traumas and the way women move through the world? I had never asked myself this question, but after reading “When the Museum is Closed,” I am thrilled that Emi Yagi did.
This novella is a tender, surrealistic, delightful masterpiece. It addresses difficult topics, but it is not about difficult topics. It’s about a woman, Rika, who takes a job at a museum, where she spends her Monday evenings – when the museum is closed – conversing in Latin with an ancient marble statue of Venus. Venus has lived for thousands of years, viewing the happenings of the world from select stationery pedestals. Rika both fascinates and understands her.
Rika leads her life post-grad working in a refrigerated warehouse, one of the only places she feels somewhat comfortable wearing the physical (but invisible) manifestation of her social discomfort. At the warehouse, picking various frozen foods off of their appropriate shelves, Rika can work solo, without the heavy pressure of socializing and relating to those around her. Meeting Venus opens up her world. “When the Museum is Closed” explores what we become when we are truly seen, and what we leave behind.
Recently, we’ve seen the emergence of “weird girl books” as a subgenre of literary fiction – authors like Otessa Moshfegh, Mona Awad and Marie Helene-Bertino are often included – and “When the Museum is Closed” fits right in.
If that’s your (literary) jam, this is a title not to miss. Looking to get into weird girl lit? “When the Museum is Closed” is a great place to start: a quick but meaningful read with decipherable—but not directly provided—subtext.
Yagi’s storytelling style is perfect for fans of Lydia Millet and Ted Chiang. Every strange detail is relevant and revisited, not just weird for the shock value (Chekhov would almost certainly approve). I read this book in the span of an evening but it made itself a permanent home on my shelf, and I know I’ll revisit it periodically. One to reread on the rainy days, the overwhelming days, or the lonely days.
