{"title":"Haruki Murakami","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaruki Murakami is a Japanese writer and translator, born on 12 January 1949 in Kyōto, Japan. With his unique storytelling style and ability to blend reality with fantasy, he has captivated readers worldwide. Known for his thought-provoking novels such as \"Norwegian Wood\" and \"Kafka on the Shore,\" Murakami's works explore themes of loneliness, identity, and the human condition. His writing has earned him numerous accolades and a dedicated fan base who eagerly await each new release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMurakami's literary career began in the late 1970s when he opened a jazz bar in Tokyo called Peter Cat. Inspired by his love for music, especially jazz and classical music, these influences can be seen throughout his writing. He often incorporates musical references into his stories, creating a harmonious blend of literature and melody.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs an accomplished translator as well, Murakami has introduced English-speaking audiences to some of Japan's most notable authors. His translations of works by Ryu Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto have received critical acclaim for their accuracy and ability to capture the essence of the original texts.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"first-person-singular-stories","title":"First Person Singular: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.roughtrade.com\/uk-books-of-the-year-2021\"\u003eRough Trade Books of the Year #17\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe eight masterly stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music, and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOccasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs it memoir or fiction? The reader decides.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50447331328331,"sku":"1105283","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Hardback - 1126440","offer_id":50447331721547,"sku":"1126440","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/036cb63f-4f4f-40b6-81a2-1ff6ca490f33_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727076111"},{"product_id":"murakami-t-the-t-shirts-i-love","title":"Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe international literary icon opens his eclectic closet: Here are photographs of Murakami's extensive and personal T-shirt collection, accompanied by essays that reveal a side of the writer rarely seen by the public.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaruki Murakami's books have galvanized millions around the world. Many of his fans know about his 10,000-vinyl-record collection, and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate, and perhaps more unique, passion: his T-shirt-collecting habit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Murakami T\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts - including gems found in bookshops, charity shops and record stores - from those featuring whisky, animals, cars and superheroes, to souvenirs of marathons and a Beach Boys concert in Honolulu, to the shirt that inspired the beloved short story Tony Takitani. Accompanied by short, frank essays that have been translated into English for the first time, these photographs reveal much about Murakami's multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50466287026507,"sku":"1133267","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/266ea810-f496-4428-b805-447d7b49e7dc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727310370"},{"product_id":"novelist-as-vocation","title":"Novelist as Vocation","description":"\u003cp\u003eA charmingly idiosyncratic look at writing, creativity, and the author's own novels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaruki Murakami's myriad fans will be delighted by this unique look into the mind of a master storyteller. In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously reclusive writer 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50488786256203,"sku":"1168379","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50488786911563,"sku":"2165809","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6d64cd2c-9d96-4be9-b7b6-acee49dc2b2c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727631452"},{"product_id":"norwegian-wood-1","title":"Norwegian Wood","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe haunting, enigmatic love story that turned \u003cb\u003eMurakami\u003c\/b\u003e into a literary superstar in Japan, and is his bestselling title throughout the world \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50507160256843,"sku":"1022140","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9781529957716-jacket-large.webp?v=1748876109"},{"product_id":"kafka-on-the-shore","title":"Kafka On The Shore","description":"\u003cp\u003eKafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50513837195595,"sku":"1090623","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/7e5b63a6-e03f-4d5f-980b-767c8bb76363_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727934655"},{"product_id":"the-city-and-its-uncertain-walls","title":"The City and Its Uncertain Walls","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen a young man’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he sets his heart on finding the imaginary city where her true self lives. His search will lead him to take a job in a remote library with mysteries of its own.When he finally makes it to the walled city, a shadowless place of horned beasts and willow trees, he finds his beloved working in a different library – a dream library. But she has no memory of their life together in the other world and, as the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur, he must decide what he’s willing to lose.A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a parable for these strange times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50812477342027,"sku":"2232158","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/81mZrxzCLwL._SY522__310de9d0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1731343578"},{"product_id":"norwegian-wood","title":"Norwegian Wood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA beautiful special edition of the haunting, enigmatic love story which is Murakami's bestselling title throughout the world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eAutumn 1969, and soon I would be 20.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire – to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57876909392203,"sku":"R3920-3155","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/91Q9R3wrk-L._SL1500.jpg?v=1784208217"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_080e4dbd_thumbnail_4096_e5323462-19a3-483f-ac9b-04b3d278db55.jpg?v=1727076071","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/haruki-murakami.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}