Rider

the long version

Rider takes readers where they have seldom ventured before: into the minds and hearts of women of a culture still enigmatic to the West. Mai has retreated from her marriage and career to ride the Tokyo subway system. Her wry, anthropological notes about the ways in which women are ignored or abused within the high-tech microcosm of trains and indoor malls reflect the myriad social pressures experienced by Asian women in general. Mai's subway data mix with poignant flashes of memory concerning the lives of female friends and relatives. It eventually comes to light that Mai's compulsion to be an invisible spectator within crowds of strangers is the only way she can handle her devastation at a tragedy that has befallen a close friend. Though her sympathy for a homeless woman causes more trouble than good, Mai ultimately emerges from the subway a heroine, using her unique knowledge of its tunnels to aid others during an earthquake that paralyzes Tokyo. Having taken on the "system" in its most literal sense, Mai has a new appreciation of her inner strengths and can move on at last to the world outside.