The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese author known for his unique blend of surrealism, magical realism, and internality. He was born on January 12, 1949 in Kyoto, Japan. His parents both taught Japanese literature, and Murakami was interested in literature himself from a young age, eventually studying drama at university. But Murakami did not actually begin writing until the late 1970s. In the years after he graduated from college, Murakami managed a jazz club in a suburb of Tokyo together with his wife, Yoko Takahashi.

In 1979, Murakami published his first literary work, the novel Hear the Wind Sing. This debut work, characterized by its minimalist prose and contemplative tone, set the stage for what would become Murakami’s hallmark storytelling style. The novel offered glimpses into the minds of its characters, often young individuals grappling with isolation, nostalgia, and the complexities of modern life, all themes that continue to resurface throughout Murakami’s oeuvre. The novel was highly acclaimed and won the Gunzo Award. Murakami followed the success of his first novel with two more novels, Pinball, 1973 (1980) and A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), which brought Murakami international attention, and A Wild Sheep Chase was his first novel translated into English.