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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”

Don’t Put Me In, Coach-Mark Titus

Published: 2012 (Anchor Sports) Setting: Columbus, Ohio Summary: Mark Titus’s rollicking adventure as a walk-on superstar for the Ohio State Buckeyes is one worth following. He benchwarmed, pranked, and shit his way to minor fame as the most interesting walk-on in college basketball. Titus’s humility and humor shine, and his keen awareness of the flow ofContinue reading “Don’t Put Me In, Coach-Mark Titus”

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”

Sputnik Sweetheart-Haruki Murakami

Published: 1999 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo, Greece Summary: This short novel packs a powerful punch of longing and desperation. The narrator “K” chronicles the torrid and star-crossed love affair between Miu, a 40-year-old Korean woman who has pure white hair, and Sumire, the woman he loves. K’s backstory isn’t so important, this novel is about Sumire and Miu. SumireContinue reading “Sputnik Sweetheart-Haruki Murakami”

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle-Haruki Murakami

Published: 1994 (Shinchosha) Setting: Manchuria, Tokyo Summary: Toru Okada has a serene marriage with his wife, Kumiko, and their cat Noburu Wataya. Toru is unemployed and unaware that he out of touch with his wife. He meets a teenage girl, May Kasahara, who is obsessed with death but has an interest in Toru that takes center stage overContinue reading “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle-Haruki Murakami”

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”

South of the Border, West of the Sun-Haruki Murakami

Published: 1992 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo, Hakone Summary: An only-child, Hajime, is a 12-year-old boy who falls in love with a girl named Shimamoto at the age of twelve. Shimamoto, who also an only child, is he first love. They separate before high school and eventually find their way back to each other through their love of jazz andContinue reading “South of the Border, West of the Sun-Haruki Murakami”

Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami

Published: 1987 (Kodansha) Setting: Tokyo, Kyoto Summary: The domestic reception to Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood propelled the author to literary super stardom seemingly overnight. This novel, nostalgic and deeply feeling, is as much a period piece as it is a coming-of-age story set in Japan’s post-war coming-of-age. Toru Watanabe floats in and out of the lives of hisContinue reading “Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami”