Published: 2007 (Bungeishunju) Setting: Japan, Greece, Cambridge U.S. Summary: Haruki Murakami’s running memoir starts with the saying: “suffering is optional,” and ends with his proposed epitaph: “at least he never walked.” Murakami is equally interested in systems and experience. Running is the metaphysical key that unlocks the rest of the body and mind, and the way you trainContinue reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running-Haruki Murakami”
Category Archives: 2000’s
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story-Chuck Klosterman
Published: 2005 (Scribner) Setting: 2000’s U.S.A. Summary: Chuck Klosterman’s third major work of non-fiction explores how the death of a rockstar changes our memory of them. Klosterman further posits the question: How does how we remember the dead highlight what we think of ourselves, and how we see ourselves in relation to popular culture? Klosterman, having been sentContinue reading “Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story-Chuck Klosterman”
1Q84-Haruki Murakami
Published: 2009-10 (Shinchosha) Setting: Tokyo, Yamanashi Summary: Murakami’s epic starts and ends with a tunnel that connects reality and fantasy. This nexus is where Murakami has thrived in his career. 1Q84 explores the nature of reality, of religion in modern society, and the twists of fate which tie humans together. The three principal characters in this movie are a personalContinue reading “1Q84-Haruki Murakami”
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking-Malcolm Gladwell
Published: 2005 (Little, Brown and Company) Setting: Gladwell’s Brain Summary: Blink is a study about “thin slicing”, how we make snap decisions, when we are most used to making them, and what they mean. Gladwell produces economic and psychological case studies which explore the phenomenon of seconds and the decisions we make within them. Police shootings, marbleContinue reading “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking-Malcolm Gladwell”
After Dark-Haruki Murakami
Published: 2004 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo Summary: A dark night full of mystery, love hotels, and Denny’s brings an entangled web of insomniacs together in this short novel by Haruki Murakami. Mari is a college student about to go to Beijing as a foreign exchange student, who runs into a young man named Takahashi who she has met onceContinue reading “After Dark-Haruki Murakami”
Kafka on the Shore-Haruki Murakami
Published: 2002 (Shinchosha) Setting: Tokyo, Takamatsu, Kochi Summary: Kafka Tamura is a 15-year-old boy with an Oedipal curse hanging over his head. He is supposed to kill his father, and sleep with his long-lost sister and mother. He runs away from home to escape this fate, from Tokyo to Takamatsu, and along the way he meets his “sister”Continue reading “Kafka on the Shore-Haruki Murakami”
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs-Chuck Klosterman
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs-Chuck Klosterman Published: 2003 (Scribner) Setting: Chuck Klosterman’s Mind Summary: Chuck Klosterman’s collection of essays touches on born-again apocalyptic literature, Celtics vs. Lakers, why the Dixie Chicks matter, and the pretentiousness of rock critics (him included). Klosterman tries to put on paper what he (we) really thinks about the world around usContinue reading “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs-Chuck Klosterman”
Fargo Rock City-Chuck Klosterman
Published: 2001 (Scribner) Setting: The North Dakota in Klosterman’s Mind Summary: Chuck Klosterman’s s debut book prompts the reader to journey back to the 1980’s, a time where Klosterman was obsessed with hair metal and everything that came with it (boozing, virginity, aimless drives). Klosterman is both sharp and vulnerable when he ponders the artistic, commercial,Continue reading “Fargo Rock City-Chuck Klosterman”
The Tipping Point-Malcolm Gladwell
Published: 2000 (Little, Brown) Setting: Malcolm Gladwell’s Brain Summary: Malcolm Gladwell’s debut book is a thought experiment about how we can change our world, and a treatise on how we need to change how we think about solutions to these problems. Malcolm Gladwell shows us why Blue’s Clues was the evolutionary Sesame Street, and whyContinue reading “The Tipping Point-Malcolm Gladwell”
Tokyo Vice-Jake Adelstein
Published: 2009 (Random House and Pantheon) Setting: Saitama and Tokyo, Japan Summary: Jake Adelstein is a reporter, one with a code and a conscience and eventually an axe to grind. Through his various run-ins with cops, sex workers, other reporters, and the yakuza Adelstein learned that the underbelly of Japan is ultimately as dark andContinue reading “Tokyo Vice-Jake Adelstein”
Will Reviews Things 