New Releases by Haruki Murakami

Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami''s two first novel - here they are together in one edition. Now I think it''s time to tell my story. Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami''s two first novels. Home from college on his summer break, the narrator spends his time drinking beer and smoking with his friend nicknamed the Rat, listening to the radio, thinking about writing and pursuing a relationship with a girl with nine fingers. Three years later he has moved to Tokyo to work as a translator and live with indistinguishable twin girls. But the Rat has remained behind. Haunted by memories of the past, the narrator embarks upon a quest to find the exact model of pinball machine he and the Rat had enjoyed playing years earlier: the three-flipper Spaceship. ''Quintessential Murakami...an excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation'' Guardian ''Murakami''s way of making emotionally resonant images and symbols bump around on the page, and in one''s mind, remains fresh'' Evening Standard WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes a relentlessly inventive novel that dives deep into the very nature of consciousness. “Fantastical, mysterious, and funny . . . a fantasy world that might have been penned by Franz Kafka.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect. What emerges is a hyperkinetic novel that is at once hilariously funny and a deeply serious meditation on the nature and uses of the mind.

From the bestselling author of Norwegian Wood and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World comes a love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for our peculiar times. "Haruki Murakami invented 21st-century fiction." —The New York Times • "More than any author since Kafka, Murakami appreciates the genuine strangeness of our real world." —San Francisco Chronicle • "Murakami is masterful." —Los Angeles Times We begin with a nameless young couple: a boy and a girl, teenagers in love. One day, she disappears . . . and her absence haunts him for the rest of his life. Thus begins a search for this lost love that takes the man into middle age and on a journey between the real world and an other world – a mysterious, perhaps imaginary, walled town where unicorns roam, where a Gatekeeper determines who can enter and who must remain behind, and where shadows become untethered from their selves. Listening to his own dreams and premonitions, the man leaves his life in Tokyo behind and ventures to a small mountain town, where he becomes the head librarian, only to learn the mysterious circumstances surrounding the gentleman who had the job before him. As the seasons pass and the man grows more uncertain about the porous boundaries between these two worlds, he meets a strange young boy who helps him to see what he’s been missing all along. The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature’s most important writers. "Truth is not found in fixed stillness, but in ceaseless change/movement. Isn''t this the quintessential core of what stories are all about?” —Haruki Murakami, from the afterword

Hi ha barreres que només l''esperança i el desig poden tirar a terra. La gran tornada de Murakami a la novel·la després de La mort del comanador El protagonista i narrador de La ciutat i les seves muralles incertes no pot imaginar que la noia que estima està a punt de desaparèixer de la seva vida. D''instituts diferents, es veuen quan poden i, tot i que ella també n''està enamorada, li diu que no pot estar amb ell: en les seves trobades, li parla d''un altre món, d''una ciutat emmurallada en la qual ella és més real que en aquest, on se sent com una ombra. De mica en mica, la noia li explica els problemes emocionals que té, atacs ocasionals de pànic i depressió que al capdavall fan que deixi l''escola i es tanqui a casa. I un dia, amb una carta de comiat, ella desapareix. El noi, desesperat per veure-la, al cap del temps aconsegueix d''alguna manera arribar a la ciutat fantàstica per trobar-la. La ciutat de les muralles, tal com l''han imaginada, existeix, perquè tot és possible en un univers on la realitat, els somnis i les ombres es fonen i s''escapen dels límits de la raó. Un cop a la ciutat, però, ella no el recorda.

Haruki Murakami''s stories in graphic novel form for the first time! Haruki Murakami''s novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Now for the first time, many of Murakami''s best-loved short stories are available in graphic novel form in English. Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 1 is the first of three volumes, which will present a total of 9 short stories from Murakami''s bestselling collections. With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami''s characteristic themes of loss, remorse and confusion, the four stories in this volume are: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo: A few days after an earthquake, Katagiri discovers a giant frog in this home. The frog promises to save Tokyo from another earthquake, but Katagiri must help him. Is this real, or is Katagiri dreaming? "[This story has] such an engaging mix of realism and fantasy that it takes a while for you to realize what a sad undertow the story has and how much it says about Katagiri''s solitary life, his feelings of powerlessness and his dread of another quake." —The New York Times Where I''m Likely to Find It: A woman''s husband goes missing so she hires detective. As the detective traces the man''s whereabouts, he reflects on the meaning of his own life. "A searching Kafkaesque parable about disappearance, loss and coping." —Kirkus Reviews Birthday Girl: A woman tells her friend the story of a surreal encounter she has on her twentieth birthday with the owner of the restaurant where she works, who grants her a wish. The Seventh Man: The story of a man scarred by the death of his childhood friend in a tsunami. "Although Murakami''s style and deadpan humour are wonderfully distinctive, his emotional territory is more familiar—remorse, unresolved confusion, sudden epiphanies—though heightened by the surreal. In The Seventh Man, one of his saddest stories, the narrator recalls the wave that reared up during a freak storm and engulfed his childhood friend." —The Guardian These new graphic versions of classic Murakami short stories will be devoured by his fans and will provide a new window onto his work for a new generation of readers not yet familiar with it! **Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content**

Haruki Murakami başyapıtı 1Q84 bu kez de üç ayrı kitap olarak okurlarla buluşuyor... "Yürekten sevdiğin bir insan varsa, bir kişi olsun yeter, hayatın kurtulmuş demektir..." Sarsıcı bir yolculuğa hazır mısınız? Öyleyse kemerlerinizi bağlayın. Erkekleri, titizlikle geliştirdiği bir yöntemle öteki dünyaya gönderen genç bir kadınla tanışacaksınız. Ve amansız bir takiple onun peşine düşen fanatik bir cemaatin müritleriyle... Romantik misiniz? Evet, bu kitapta aşk da var... İki dünya bir araya gelmeden mümkün olmayan bir aşk. Yaşadığınız dünya gerçek mi, hiç düşündünüz mü? Düşündüyseniz, paralel bir evrene geçmek sizi heyecanlandıracaktır o zaman. Hayatı algılayışınızı değiştirecek bir kitabın kapağını açmak üzeresiniz şu an. Yaşayan en büyük yazarlardan biri olarak kabul edilen Haruki Murakami başyapıtı, tüm dünyada milyonlarca satan kitabı 1Q84''le bir imkânsızı başarıyor. Nefesinizi kesecek bir macera romanını, gerçek nedir, insan neye inanmalı, aşk dünyayı kurtarabilir mi soruları ekseninde bir yürek atlasına dönüştürüyor.

Si je t''ai blessé, c''est que ta blessure est aussi la mienne. Alors, ne m''en veux pas. Je suis un être inachevé. Bien plus que tu ne le crois. Œuvre d''une ampleur exceptionnelle, placée sous le parrainage de Salinger et Fitzgerald, La Ballade de l''impossible est le livre qui a révélé Haruki Murakami. Un superbe roman d''apprentissage aux résonances autobiographiques, dans lequel le maître Murakami fait preuve d''une tendresse, d''un charme poétique et d''une intensité érotique saisissants.

Si tu te souviens de moi, cela m''est égal que tous les autres m''oublient. Magique, hypnotique, Kafka sur le rivage est un roman d''initiation où se déploient, avec une grâce infinie et une imagination stupéfiante, toute la profondeur, la richesse de Haruki Murakami. Une œuvre majeure qui s''inscrit parmi les plus grands romans d''apprentissage de la littérature.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • An insightful look into the mind of a master storyteller—and a unique look at the craft of writing from the beloved and best-selling author of 1Q84, Norwegian Wood, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. "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 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Esquire, Vulture, LitHub, New York Observer Aspiring writers and readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this engaging book from the internationally best-selling author. Haruki Murakami now 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 and more. "What I want to say is that in a certain sense, while the novelist is creating a novel, he is simultaneously being created by the novel as well." —Haruki Murakami

The 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. Many of Haruki Murakami''s fans know about his massive vinyl record collection (10,000 albums!) and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate passion: his T-shirt collecting. In Murakami T, the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts—from concert shirts to never-worn whiskey-themed Ts, and from beloved bookstore swag to the shirt that inspired the iconic short story "Tony Takitani." These photographs are paired with short, frank essays that include Murakami''s musings on the joy of drinking Guinness in local pubs across Ireland, the pleasure of eating a burger upon arrival in the United States, and Hawaiian surf culture in the 1980s. Together, these photographs and reflections reveal much about Murakami''s multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona.

El nou llibre de relats de Haruki Murakami En les vuit històries d''aquest nou recull trobem el clàssic narrador de Murakami, que aquí podríem confondre amb ell mateix. Amors fugaços de joventut que perviuen en el temps, cristal·litzats en un objecte inesperat, records que es desdibuixen capriciosament, una devoció incandescent pel beisbol, un servicial mico parlant a la recerca de l''amor o la història del mític -i inexistent?- disc de bossa nova de Charlie Parker... Filosòfics i misteriosos, amb un peu a la realitat i un altre al realisme màgic, els relats de Primera persona del singular transgredeixen els límits entre la nostra ment i el món exterior i evoquen l''amor i la solitud, la infància i la memòria, tots amb el toc únic de Haruki Murakami. La crítica ha dit: «Aquests contes resplendents són testimoni del talent de Murakami i la seva persistent creativitat». Publishers Weekly «Narrativa breu d''un mestre». Bill Ott, Booklist

NATIONAL BEST SELLER • A mind-bending new collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author. • “Some novelists hold a mirror up to the world and some, like Haruki Murakami, use the mirror as a portal to a universe hidden beyond it.” —The Wall Street Journal The eight stories in this new book are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From 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. Occasionally, a narrator may or may not be Murakami himself. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—from one of our greatest writers. • “Exhilarating ... magical.” —The Washington Post When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he secludes himself in the mountain home of a world famous artist. One day, the young painter hears a noise from the attic, and upon investigation, he discovers a previously unseen painting. By unearthing this hidden work of art, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances; and to close it, he must undertake a perilous journey into a netherworld that only Haruki Murakami could conjure.

Two of Japan''s foremost contemporary cultural spokespersons met for an informal conversation with remarkable results. While their extended talk took place at a particular location at a particular moment in history, much of the content is timeless and universal. After popular acclaim in Japan, the transcript now makes its first appearance in English. Topics from the Contents: The Meaning of Commitment Words or Images? Making Stories Answering Logically versus Answering Compassionately Self-Healing and Novels Marriage and ''Well-digging'' Curing and Living Stories and the Body The Relationship between a Work and its Author Individuality and Universality Violence and Expression Where are We Headed?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Including the story "Drive My Car”—now an Academy Award–nominated film—this collection from the internationally acclaimed author "examines what happens to characters without important women in their lives; it''ll move you and confuse you and sometimes leave you with more questions than answers" (Barack Obama). Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.

Un delicioso paseo por la literatura y el universo de uno de los autores más leídos de nuestro tiempo. Haruki Murakami encarna el prototipo de escritor solitario y reservado; se considera extremadamente tímido y siempre ha subrayado que le incomoda hablar de sí mismo, de su vida privada y de su visión del mundo. Sin embargo, el autor ha roto ese silencio para compartir con sus lectores su experiencia como escritor y como lector. A partir de autores como Kafka, Chandler, Dostoievski o Hemingway, Murakami reflexiona sobre la literatura, sobre la imaginación, sobre los premios literarios y sobre la en ocasiones controvertida figura del escritor. Además, aporta ideas y sugerencias para todos los que se han enfrentado en alguna ocasión al reto de escribir: ¿sobre qué escribir?, ¿cómo preparar una trama?, ¿qué hábitos y rituales sigue él mismo? Pero en este texto cercano, lleno de frescura, delicioso y personalísimo, los lectores descubrirán, por encima de todo, cómo es Haruki Murakami: el hombre, la persona, y tendrán un acceso privilegiado al "taller" de uno de los escritores más leídos de nuestro tiempo.

Pinball, 1973 is Murakami''s second novel, available for the first time in English outside Japan. With a new introduction by the author. Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakamiâe(tm)s earliest novels. They follow the fortunes of the narrator and his friend, known only by his nickname, the Rat. Pinball, 1973 picks up three years after the events of Hear the Wind Sing. The narrator has moved to Tokyo to work as a translator and live with indistinguishable twin girls, but the Rat has remained behind, despite his efforts to leave both the town and his girlfriend. The narrator finds himself haunted by memories of his own doomed relationship but also, more bizarrely, by his short-lived obsession with playing pinball in Jâe(tm)s Bar. This sends him on a quest to find the exact model of pinball machine he had enjoyed playing years earlier: the three-flipper Spaceship.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Wind/Pinball, a unique two-in-one volume, includes, on one side, Murakami’s first novel Hear the Wind Sing. When you flip the book over, you can read his second novel, Pinball, 1973. Each book has its own stunning cover. In the spring of 1978, a young Haruki Murakami sat down at his kitchen table and began to write. The result: two remarkable short novels—Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973—that launched the career of one of the most acclaimed authors of our time. These powerful, at times surreal, works about two young men coming of age—the unnamed narrator and his friend the Rat—are stories of loneliness, obsession, and eroticism. They bear all the hallmarks of Murakami’s later books, and form the first two-thirds, with A Wild Sheep Chase, of the trilogy of the Rat. Widely available in English for the first time ever, newly translated, and featuring a new introduction by Murakami himself, Wind/Pinball gives us a fascinating insight into a great writer’s beginnings.

Mientras aterriza en un aeropuerto europeo, Toru Watanabe, un ejecutivo de 37 años, escucha una vieja canción de los Beatles que le hace retroceder a su juventud, al turbulento Tokio de los años sesenta. Con una mezcla de melancolía y desasosiego, Toru recuerda entonces a la inestable y misteriosa Naoko, la novia de su mejor y único amigo de la adolescencia, Kizuki. Sin embargo, la aparición de otra mujer en la vida de Toru le lleva a experimentar el deslumbramiento y el desengaño allí donde todo debería cobrar sentido: el sexo, el amor y la muerte. Y ningún de los personajes parece capaz de alcanzar el frágil equilibrio entre las esperanzas juveniles y la necesidad de encontrar un lugar en el mundo.

Haruki Murakami é o autor japonês mais popular de sua geração, com livros traduzidos em 34 idiomas. Assim como em Norwegian Wood, lançado no Japão em 1987 e 4 milhões de exemplares vendidos no país, os personagens de Kafka à beira-mar — que também é o nome de uma canção — vivem em um Japão completamente transformado pelo capitalismo e se sentem solitários, excluídos da sociedade moderna. "Sempre me interesso por pessoas que se põem à margem da sociedade, que se retiraram dela. A maioria dos personagens em Kafka à beira-mar está, de uma forma ou de outra, marginalizada. E Nakata, definitivamente, é uma dessas", explica o autor. Como os outros romances de Murakami, este também traz elementos fantásticos. A história tem dois protagonistas: o adolescente Kafta Tamura, que foge da casa onde vive com o pai para encontrar a mãe e a irmã, e o deficiente mental Satoru Nakata, um homem de sessenta anos que tem a habilidade de falar com gatos. As duas histórias são contadas de forma paralela, alternando-se ao longo dos capítulos, até convergirem no final.

Una obra brillant sobre la complexa relació entre homes i dones Sis relats profunds i subtils que exploren la mentalitat masculina japonesa. Sis relats en què els protagonistes són homes sols. Les dones són les grans absents d''aquestes històries: han marxat, han fugit, han mort o senzillament han desaparegut... Però el seu esperit sembla estar sempre ben a prop. En aquest recull trobarem alguns dels trets més característics del millor Murakami: la música pop dels Beatles, els seus referents literaris, els personatges solitaris i melancòlics, un humor subtil... Sense anar gaire lluny, el títol del recull fa referència a la segona col·lecció de relats que Hemingway va publicar l''any 1927, Men without women. La majoria dels relats han aparegut prèviament en algun mitjà japonès, però totes les versions han estat retocades o modificades per l''autor per ser publicades en aquest format. Només un relat, el que dóna títol al volum, ha estat específicament escrit per al llibre.

From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami—a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library. Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling Haruki Murakami''s wild imagination. The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written. Designed by Chip Kidd and fully illustrated, in full color, throughout, this small format, 96 page volume is a treat for book lovers of all ages.

Tsukuru Tazaki og hans fire venner er uadskillelige gennem gymnasietiden. De tre drenge og to piger udgør den perfekte gruppe og vil altid høre sammen – forestiller de sig. Men kort tid efter gymnasiet slår de fire venner hånden af ham. Noget er sket, men ingen af dem vil fortælle ham, hvad det er. Seksten år senere fortæller Tsukuru sin veninde Sara om den skygge, vennernes afvisning har kastet over hans liv. Hun foreslår, at han opsøger de gamle venner og opklarer det mysterium, som har hjemsøgt ham siden dengang. Kun på den måde kan han ifølge hende forsone sig med sin fortid og åbne sig for en ny fremtid. Murakami tager i sin nye roman livtag med spørgsmål omkring identitet, kærlighed og venskab. Tsukuru har altid følt sig tom og farveløs i forhold til sine farvestrålende venner Ao, Aka, Shiro og Kuro, men efter mødet med Sara begynder han at forstå, at han selv har farver. Og ved gensynet med sine gamle venner indser han, at han gennem sin ungdom misforstod afgørende ting i sine relationer til andre mennesker. “Der er ting her i livet, der er så komplicerede, at de vanskeligt lader sig forklare på noget sprog.”

An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller One of the most revered voices in literature today gives us a story of love, friendu00adship, and heartbreak for the ages. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage 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. A New York Times and Washington Post notable book, and one of the Financial Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Slate, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, and BookPage''s best books of the year

Først møder han en ung kvinde med de smukkeste ører, han nogensinde har set, så falder han over et billede af et får med en stjerneformet plet på ryggen, og endelig opsøges han af en ultrahøjreorienteret mand, der kalder sig ÎBossenÌ. Bossen er døende, men han har en opgave, der skal løses. Vores fortæller må påtage sig hvervet, hvis han vil overleve. Den vilde fårejagt er i gang. Murakami leger med kriminalfortællingen, thrilleren og den allegoriske roman. I et usædvanligt klart og stilrent sprog fortæller han en vidunderlig historie fra Japan.

Misturando situações banais a fatos inexplicáveis, Murakami constrói um extraordinário thriller permeado de mitologia e mistério. Lançado no Japão em 1982, Caçando carneiros é o romance que tornou Haruki Murakami conhecido mundialmente. Permeado de mitologia e mistério, a obra é um thriller literário extraordinário. O protagonista do livro é um personagem sem nome que leva uma vida tranquila trabalhando numa agência de publicidade, convivendo com a ex-mulher e alguns amigos - todos muito comuns, ou assim parece. Mas tudo muda quando ele recebe uma carta misteriosa e conhece pessoas inesperadas: uma modelo de orelhas sedutoras, um grupo político de direita com um chefe enigmático e, por incrível que pareça, um homem-carneiro. Lançado em uma busca fantástica, ele terá que atravessar o Japão para encontrar o único carneiro que pode trazer novamente algum sentido ao seu cotidiano. Nessa jornada, nosso narrador se vê no lugar de um excêntrico detetive que, ao mesmo tempo em que esclarece pistas, descobre um pouco mais sobre si mesmo. Ao mesclar situações banais a fatos inexplicáveis, Murakami faz com que o leitor mergulhe em seu universo e se deixe levar por suas narrativas oníricas.

Una hipnótica novela en torno a un gran misterio en el que se funden la fantasía y la realidad. El joven Tooru Okada, que acaba de dejar su trabajo en un bufete de abogados, recibe un día la llamada anónima de una mujer. A partir de ese momento, la existencia de Tooru sufre una extraña transformación. Su mujer desaparece, comienzan a surgir a su alrededor misteriosos personajes, y lo real se degrada hasta cobrar tintes fantasmagóricos. Mientras los sueños invaden cada vez más la realidad, Tooru Okada deberá resolver conflictos que ha arrastrado a lo largo de toda su vida.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A tremendous accomplishment. It does every last blessed thing a masterpiece is supposed to—and a few things we never even knew to expect.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Brilliant . . . an irresistibly engaging literary fantasy.”—The Washington Post The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is a striking feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

Una magnífica combinación de intriga, sexo y rock and roll con los densos y poéticos silencios del mejor Murakami En marzo de 1983, el joven protagonista de esta novela, redactor freelance todoterreno, después de pasar días sombríos, siente la necesidad de volver a ciertos escenarios de su vida para ajustar cuentas con el pasado. Viaja a Sapporo con la intención de alojarse en el Hotel Delfín, donde años atrás pasó una semana con una misteriosa mujer que, de manera inesperada, desapareció de su lado. A su llegada descubre que han derribado el hotel y que en su lugar se alza otro, moderno y lujoso, pero su estancia allí propicia la aparición de personajes envueltos en un aura de irrealidad: una guapa recepcionista que ha vivido experiencias inverosímiles, una adolescente dotada de una aguda sensibilidad, o un antiguo compañero de colegio, ahora actor de éxito, que lo meterá en graves aprietos. Asesinatos, viajes a Hawai, pasajes a otros mundos y fiestas se suceden al ritmo de la música que suena en la radio de su destartalado Subaru. Lo cierto es que, como afirma un enigmático personaje, todo está conectado. Porque sólo se regresa al Hotel Delfín para poder empezar de nuevo.