After the Quake - (Vintage International) by Haruki Murakami (Paperback)

About the Book

The stories in this mesmerizing new collection are set at the time of the 1995 Kobe earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and rent the social fabric of Japan.

Book Synopsis

Set at the time of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake, the mesmerizing stories in After the Quake are as haunting as dreams and as potent as oracles.

An electronics salesman who has been deserted by his wife agrees to deliver an enigmatic package-- and is rewarded with a glimpse of his true nature. A man who views himself as the son of God pursues a stranger who may be his human father. A mild-mannered collection agent receives a visit from a giant talking frog who enlists his help in saving Tokyo from destruction. The six stories in this collection come from the deep and mysterious place where the human meets the inhuman--and are further proof that Murakami is one of the most visionary writers at work today.

Review Quotes

"Ushers the reader into a hallucinatory world where the real and surreal merge and overlap, where dreams and real-life nightmares are impossible to tell apart." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"His characters are so persuasive, and the storytelling so spacious. . . . Murakami's crisp, accomplished stories in After the Quake have great immediacy." --The Seattle Times

"One of the great Japanese exports." --Details

"Unexpectedly powerful. . . . Moving." --The New York Times Book Review

"Both mysterious and somehow quite familiar." -Alan Cheuse, San Francisco Chronicle

"In these stories . . . Murakami proves himself to be almost as fantastic-and as heroic-as his creations." -Elle

"Trim, beautiful, diamond sharp, and profoundly layered in . . . mystical symbolism and daily absurdities. Murakami's evocations of grace and possible redemption are startling, dangerous, and moving." -O, The Oprah Magazine

"Spare yet richly mysterious and emotionally prismatic, these unpredictable tales explore the subtle ways the earthquake affected those who live far from its epicenter yet who are nonetheless shaken to their very core. . . .Haunting." -Booklist (starred review)

"Murakami has written a series of deeply evocative stories." -Tulsa Today

"The stories here are well-crafted and lyrical . . . They are sometimes absurd, sometimes quite funny, but they all have real epiphanies and real moments of feeling." -Rocky Mountain News

About the Author

Born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1949, Haruki Murakami grew up in Kobe and now lives near Tokyo. The most recent of his many honors is the Yomiuri Literary Prize, whose previous recipients include Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe, and Kobo Abe. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages.