Novelist as a Vocation

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An insightful look into the mind of a master storyteller—and a unique look at the craft of writing from the beloved and bestselling author of 1Q84, Norwegian Wood and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

In this engaging book, the internationally bestselling author and famously private writer Haruki Murakami shares with readers 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. Here are the personal details of a life devoted to craft: the initial moment at a Yakult Swallows baseball game, when he suddenly knew he could write a novel; the importance of memory, what he calls a writer's "mental chest of drawers"; the necessity of loneliness, patience and his daily running routine; the seminal role a carrier pigeon played in his career. Readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this insightful and unique look at the craft of writing and into the mind of a master storyteller.

HARUKI MURAKAMI was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and one of the most recent of his many international honors is the Cino Del Duca World Prize, whose previous recipients include Jorge Luis Borges, Ismail Kadare, Mario Vargas Llosa and Joyce Carol Oates.

ISBN: 9780385689496
Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Published: November 07, 2023

Named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire

"Assured, candid." —The New York Times

"Captivating." —TIME

"There's something wonderfully freeing about turning a constraint into a boon—similarly, Murakami pushes back against the trope of 'the suffering writer.' This is a good [book] to read if you need a reminder that the act of writing can, and maybe even should, be pleasurable." —Vanity Fair

"A generally charming excursion through the mind of one of the world's most beloved novelists. . . . A fascinating backstage pass to Murakami's process and approach to creating fiction." —Boston Globe