The Times Higher Education Supplement, May 31, 2002
"…invaluable for gathering out-of-the-way or ephemeral comment from TV and radio interviews…the web…[and] literary reviews."

Book Description
This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years – from ‘The Remains of the Day’ to ‘White Teeth’. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.

From the Publisher
This is an excellent guide to Haruki Murakami’s extraordinary novel. It features a biography of the author (including an interview), a full-length analysis of the novel, and a great deal more. If you’re studying this novel, reading it for your book club, or if you simply want to know more about it, you’ll find this guide informative and helpful.

About the Author
Matthew Strecher is Associate Professor of English and Japanese Literature at Toyo University in Japan. He has previously published one book on Murakami and numerous articles on modern Japanese literature.