International bestselling writer Haruki Murakami is best known for his magical realist novels that explore issues deeply rooted in the human experience. He has often been criticized by Japanese literary circles for being ‘un-Japanese’ because of the heavy influence of Western literature on his writing style.
Opposing the Japanese ideal of the strong, independent man unhindered by emotion, Murakami’s male heroes are plagued by ennui, deeply romantic, and often victim to the whims of a more dominant woman. Influenced by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Kurt Vonnegut, themes of alienation and loneliness are explored in often surreal landscapes of dreams, distant memories, the subconscious, and parallel worlds throughout his works.
First Japanese edition of Haruki Murakami’s Hear the Wind Sing
Born the only child of two Japanese literature professors, Murakami’s career as a writer did not begin until he was 29 and had already established himself as the owner of a Tokyo jazz cafe, which he ran with his wife. He was inspired to write his first novel while watching a game of baseball in 1978. Exploring themes of loneliness and loss and making frequent references to modern Western music and culture, his first short novel Hear the Wind Sing, was an immediate success and launched Murakami’s career.
First Japanese editions and true firsts of Norwegian Wood; signed by Haruki Murakami
Murakami’s next most notable novel, and perhaps most well-known work, Norwegian Wood was published in 1987, the title inspired by The Beatles’ song of the same name. A sad story of love, loss, and nostalgic yearning, Norwegian Wood tells the tale of a young man who, upon hearing a song in a bar, reminisces about his college years and the relationships he developed with two very different women. Themes of sexuality, suicide, and the grief of lost love are weaved within beautifully imagined scenes of dense woods and forests.
First edition of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; inscribed by Haruki Murakami and dust jacket illustrator Chip Kidd
Published in 1995, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle marked an evolution in Murakami’s style from his previously deeply personal narratives towards one more collective, drawing on inspiration from alienation and turmoil inherent in broader social and historical conflicts. Set in suburban Tokyo, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle tells the story of an unambitious young man who, while searching for his wife’s lost cat, discovers a vortex into a parallel dimension in a dry well. Reality and illusion blend until it is difficult to distinguish the two, physical violence and murder allude to the legacy of Japan’s aggression in WWII.
First edition of Sputnik Sweetheart; signed by Haruki Murakami and dust jacket designer Chip Kidd
Hailed by Los Angeles Magazine as a work that “grabs you from its opening lines”, Sputnik Sweetheart appeared in 2001. The Baltimore sun described the emotional tale as “[a]n agonizing, sweet story about the power and the pain of love. . . . Immensely deepened by perfect little images that leave much to be filled in by the reader’s heart or eye” (The Baltimore Sun).
First edition of After Dark; signed by Haruki Murakami and dust jacket designer Chip Kidd
Described by the New York Times as “hypnotically eerie, sometimes even funny, but most of all, it’s [a book] that keeps ratcheting up the suspense”, After Dark first appeared in 2007. The New York Times Book Review testified: “After Dark is a streamlined, hushed ensemble piece. . . . Standing above the common gloom, Murakami detects phosphorescence everywhere, but chiefly in the auras around people, which glow brightest at night and when combined.”
First edition of 1Q84; signed by Haruki Murakami and dust jacket designer Chip Kidd
Published in 2010, 1Q84 is notably Murakami’s most complex and ambitious novel, the title a Japanese wordplay on George Orwell’s 1984. Throughout the story, a sexually promiscuous female assassin and her mathematical genius male counterpart find themselves in a distorted version of reality dominated by a mystical religious cult. Sex, murder, suicide, and supernatural powers exist in a disturbing futuristic world filled with religious uncertainty and unease.
First edition of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage; signed by Haruki Murakami and dust jacket illustrator Chip Kidd
Published in 2014, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage was an instant #1 New York Times Bestseller. A story of love, friendship, and heartbreak, it is the remarkable story of a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present.
First edition of Haruki Murakami’s Men Without Women; signed by dust jacket designer Chip Kidd
Murakami has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates for his work, was named one of TIME’s most influential people in April 2015, and his works have been adapted for film, stage, and musical recordings. Additional signed first edition novels written by Haruki Murakami in our collection include: Pinball, 1973, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, The Strange Library, Kafka on the Shore and Men Without Women.
