From the First Person

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer who became a classic in his lifetime. During a baseball game in 1978, Murakami suddenly realized that he could write a book. He created the first texts at night in his jazz bar. This collection of stories is the quintessence of the author's creativity. Is this an autobiographical book? Yes and no. Murakami will tell you eight stories, and you will decide for yourself whether you believe him. On the pages of the book, you will encounter a girl writing tanka and shouting someone else's name at the moment of greatest pleasure. An old man will tell about the cream of creams—the essence of life. On the store shelves, there will be a non-existent record by The Birds. The narrator will meet the ugliest woman and will listen to all the recordings of Schumann's "Carnival" with her. A beautiful girl with a record of "With the Beatles" will walk through the school corridor and will dissolve into nothingness forever. And a talking monkey from Shinagawa will confess over a mug of beer that it stole names from women.