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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”

Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto

Published: 1988 (MK) Setting: 1980’s Tokyo Summary: Banana Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, and her novella, Moonlight Shadow, both deal with how lose makes us examine our distance to those we care about. Mikage, the protagonist in Kitchen, lives in a tiny world filled with pots, pans, couches, and plants. What she lacks is genuine connection to others afterContinue reading “Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto”

Earthlings-Sayaka Murata

Published: 2018 (Shinchosa) Setting: 1990’s and 2010’s Tokyo and rural Nagano Summary: In Murata’s second novel to be widely-translated, Earthlings, an idiosyncratic young girl named Natsuki confronts childhood trauma in an unorthodox and revealing manner, ultimately ending in total detachment from human “Earthlings,” and their society at large, twenty years later. Natsuki, unfit to be in her normalContinue reading “Earthlings-Sayaka Murata”

The Face of Another-Kobo Abe

Published: 1964 (Kodansha) Setting: 1960’s Osaka Summary: In this follow-up to Abe’s award-winning novel, The Woman in the Dunes, a leading plastics scientist’s face becomes disfigured from a chemical burn, spiraling him into isolation and alienation from others and his past self. This novel is split into three journals which the unnamed scientist uses to explain to hisContinue reading “The Face of Another-Kobo Abe”

The Woman In The Dunes-Kobo Abe

Published: 1962 (submitted to Yomiuri Prize) Setting: An unnamed coastal fishing village Summary: This Yomiuri Prize winning novel begins and ends in a dream like sandscape, a place where sand accumulates like time and swallows the visitor whole. Jumpei, an entomologist looking for the next new insect to classify, stumbles upon a desolate village with aContinue reading “The Woman In The Dunes-Kobo Abe”

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”

Haruki Murakami goes to meet Hayao Kawai

Published: 1996 (Iwanami Shoten) Setting: A Room Summary: Haruki Murakami and Hayao Kawai sat down in 1996, and the transcript of their conversation informs the reader as to what they think about life, love, violence, the novel, and psychotherapy among other topics. This conversation lends particularly crucial insight into Kawai’s sand play methods, as well asContinue reading “Haruki Murakami goes to meet Hayao Kawai”

Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock-Jesse Jarnow

Published: 2012 (Penguin) Setting: The World, Maxwell’s Summary: Jesse Jarnow’s book on the history of Yo La Tengo (YLT) blends the rise of Indie Rock and the rise of Ira, Georgia, and James. Their respective rises often happened in tandem and in parallel spaces, YLT was just over the river from the main scene in NYCContinue reading “Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock-Jesse Jarnow”

The Nineties-Chuck Klosterman

Published: 2022 (Penguin) Setting: Chuck Klosterman’s Mind Summary: Chuck Klosterman recaps and dissects the Nineties as a feeling, not as a stated fact in his newest book, The Nineties. Weaving cultural analysis, political commentary, and personal experience Klosterman paints a picture of the Nineties with a deft hand and an inquisitive mind. Klosterman is interested in how theContinue reading “The Nineties-Chuck Klosterman”

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”