RENTAL PERSON WHO DOES NOTHING

An enjoyable exploration of how, sometimes, doing nothing can mean doing a great deal.

At first glance, this is an odd book. However, there is undeniable poignancy, and even a thread of comedy, in a narrative that transcends cultural borders. As he recounts, Morimoto held several jobs that he disliked; when he thought about it, he realized that his favorite activity was doing nothing. Beginning with a tweet in 2018, he started a business where people could hire him to do, well, not much. The author chronicles many of the requests he has received: accompanying a woman who was filing divorce papers, having an ice-cream soda with a businessman, or visiting someone in the hospital. Some clients seek an anonymous confidant to tell a secret to, or simply a bit of quiet company for a few hours. Morimoto tries to be as innocuous as possible, nodding in agreement and making simple responses. He often does not charge clients for his mere presence—although he requests travel expenses—but if he performs a specific service, he charges a small fee. It provides enough money for him to live comfortably; more than that, he is satisfied with the life he is leading. He demonstrates how his “job” is a way of helping people, and since he started, he has been hired over 4,000 times. It makes one wonder if a similar service could help ease the epidemic of loneliness and isolation that is gripping the U.S. “I don’t ever get fed up with my do-nothing role, and there’s no stress,” writes the author. “Why? I could come up with several answers to that, but the simplest one is that there’s variety; the people and the situations are different every time.”

An eccentric, charming book, showing how humans can connect in the strangest of circumstances.