Description

A unique look at the craft of writing from a bestselling master of storytelling.

In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author shares with readers what he thinks about being a novelist; his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.

Readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this highly personal look at the craft of writing.

‘An insightful collection of essays on his work and methods… You end this collection of beautiful essays vowing to never let life, or writing, get so complicated again’ Guardian

‘Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers’ New York Times Book Review

‘A fascinating glimpse of the peculiar writerly life’ Sunday Times

** A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES and NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR**

Publisher Review

One of the most read authors around the world... You end this collection of beautiful essays vowing to never let life, or writing, get so complicated again. * Guardian, *Book of the Day* * A quirky, chatty collection of essays by the award-winning Japanese novelist... this charming collection opens up much of the Japanese master's thinking on a life of luck, hard work, and joy in his long vocation as a novelist. * Irish Independent * Intriguing glimpses inside the singular mind of Murakami -- Sean O'Hagan * Observer * Some of [Murakami's] best books are non-fiction: Underground, about the Tokyo sarin gas attack, and this year's Novelist as a Vocation, a book of essays about his life, writing method and the wellsprings of his extravagant imagination. -- Richard Lloyd Parry, Books of the Year * New Statesman * At any moment on our planet there are at most a few dozen novelists working with great power, for a broad audience, with the material of consciousness, which is what the novel is so uniquely good at handling, how it feels to be inside us, what it means, the devastations and beauties it brings. Murakami is one of them. * New York Times Book Review * It's safe to say there is no one like Murakami * Literary Review * A true original * The Times * A master storyteller * Sunday Times * Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers * New York Times Book Review * One of the most influential novelists of his generation. * Observer *