Reviews
NATIONAL BESTSELLER One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post , NPR, and Esquire "[A] beguilingly irresistible book. Like a lost lover, it holds on tight long after the affair is over." -- The New York Times Book Review "Classic Murakami. . . . [His] voice--cool, poised, witty, characterized by a peculiar blend of whimsy and poignancy, wit and profundity--hasn't lost its power to unsettle even as it amuses." -- The Boston Globe "Time and again in these seven stories, Murakami displays his singular genius." -- Los Angeles Times "Intimate, captivating and poignant. . . . A short story is brief enough to be perfectible--and Men Without Women showcases that." -- The Kansas City Star "Beautifully rendered." -- Financial Times "Affecting. . . . Murakami is a master of the open-ended mystery. . . . His meandering, mesmerizing tales of profound alienation are driven by puzzling circumstances that neither his characters nor readers can crack--recalling existentialist Gabriel Marcel's assertion that 'Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be experienced.'" -- The Washington Post "[Murakami] remains in top form." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Each of the seven stories here [is] a gem in and of its own right, but strung together they're a sparkling strand of precious stones, the light refracted from each equally brilliant but the tones varying subtly. . . . I have something of a love/hate relationship with short stories. Too many mediocre offerings leave me despairing of the genre, but then a collection like Men Without Women comes along and all is forgiven, my faith restored in the recognition of how utterly perfect the medium can be--in the right hands." --Lucy Scholes, The Independent "Charming and funny." -- Vulture "The best of these stories hold the excitement of a quest: These odd episodes of awakening desire show men startled into an awareness of how they have shorted themselves on life." --Minneapolis Star Tribune "Murakami's greatest strength is his creation of environments just eccentric enough to wrong-foot you--not exactly magical realism, but perhaps enigmatic realism. . . . When his writing is at its best, his characters act as a fisheye lens through which to scrutinize a slightly off-kilter world that surrounds them." -- The New Republic "Masterful. . . . The mundane gives way suddenly, like an ice floe cracking under our feet, only to reconstitute itself a moment later and swallow up that brief glimpse of what lies below." -- Vice "A whimsical delight. . . . Sanity might be overrated, but Murakami is surely not." -- The Christian Science Monitor, One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post , NPR, and Esquire "[A] beguilingly irresistible book. Like a lost lover, it holds on tight long after the affair is over. . . . Part allegory, part myth, part magic realism, part Philip Marlowe, private eye. . . . Murakami puts the performance in performance art." -- The New York Times Book Review "Time and again in these seven stories, Murakami displays his singular genius. . . . The stories in this collection find their power within the confines of common but momentous disturbances that linger on in memory." -- Los Angeles Times "Mesmerizing tales of profound alienation. . . . Murakami is a master of the open-ended mystery." -- The Washington Post "Beautifully rendered. . . . Murakami at his whimsical, romantic best. . . . [He] writes of complex things with his usual beguiling simplicity--the same seeming naivety found in the Beatles songs that are so often his reference points. The stories read like dirges for 'all the lonely people' but they are strangely invigorating to read." -- Financial Times "Classic Murakami. . . . [His] voice--cool, poised, witty, characterized by a peculiar blend of whimsy and poignancy, wit and profundity--hasn't lost its power to unsettle even as it amuses." -- The Boston Globe "A whimsical delight. . . . The seven stories in his fourth story collection present another captivating treasure hunt of familiar Murakami motifs--including cats, jazz, whiskey, certain cigarettes, the moon, baseball, never-named characters, and--of course--the many men without women. . . . Murakami always manages to entertain, surprise, and satisfy. . . . Sanity might be overrated, but Murakami is surely not." -- The Christian Science Monitor "Wise stories. . . . Moody and melancholic as [they] can be, some of them offer comparable hope that these men without women might emerge from their long and isolating loneliness, acknowledging the hurt, pain and even rage they feel rather than folding in on themselves and ceasing to fully live." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel " Men Without Women has the familiar signposts and well-worn barstools that will reconnect with longtime readers of Murakami: magical realism, Beatles tracks and glasses of whiskey. Yet, except for a few tales, the magic is watered down and it's reality that is now poured stiff. . . . This collection is a sober, clear-eyed attempt to observe the evasion and confrontation of suffering and loss, and to hope for something better." --New York Daily News "It's been a few years since we've gotten something new from Japan's master of magical realism, but this new seven-story collection draws us right back into his signature realm--one of lonely men with wandering imaginations, mysterious cats, and subtle-yet-surreal narratives that reveal the supernatural layer operating beneath our everyday lives." -- W Magazine "Vintage Murakami. . . . Compellingly odd. . . . A glimpse into the strange worlds people invent by the always inventive [author]. . . . Elegant." -- Kirkus Reviews "Thought-provoking." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Superb." -- SF Weekly "A new Haruki Murakami book is always cause for celebration. . . . These stories are filled with all of the luminous, magical elements that make Murakami's writing so fascinating." -- Bustle "Funny and surreal." --io9 "A funny, lovely, unmistakably Murakami collection." -- BuzzFeed, "[A] beguilingly irresistible book. Like a lost lover, it holds on tight long after the affair is over. . . . Part allegory, part myth, part magic realism, part Philip Marlowe, private eye. . . . Murakami puts the performance in performance art." -- The New York Times Book Review "Time and again in these seven stories, Murakami displays his singular genius. . . . The stories in this collection find their power within the confines of common but momentous disturbances that linger on in memory." -- Los Angeles Times "Mesmerizing tales of profound alienation. . . . Murakami is a master of the open-ended mystery." -- The Washington Post "Beautifully rendered. . . . Murakami at his whimsical, romantic best. . . . [He] writes of complex things with his usual beguiling simplicity--the same seeming naivety found in the Beatles songs that are so often his reference points. The stories read like dirges for 'all the lonely people' but they are strangely invigorating to read." -- Financial Times "Classic Murakami. . . . [His] voice--cool, poised, witty, characterized by a peculiar blend of whimsy and poignancy, wit and profundity--hasn't lost its power to unsettle even as it amuses." -- The Boston Globe "A whimsical delight. . . . The seven stories in his fourth story collection present another captivating treasure hunt of familiar Murakami motifs--including cats, jazz, whiskey, certain cigarettes, the moon, baseball, never-named characters, and--of course--the many men without women. . . . Murakami always manages to entertain, surprise, and satisfy. . . . Sanity might be overrated, but Murakami is surely not." -- The Christian Science Monitor "Wise stories. . . . Moody and melancholic as [they] can be, some of them offer comparable hope that these men without women might emerge from their long and isolating loneliness, acknowledging the hurt, pain and even rage they feel rather than folding in on themselves and ceasing to fully live." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel " Men Without Women has the familiar signposts and well-worn barstools that will reconnect with longtime readers of Murakami: magical realism, Beatles tracks and glasses of whiskey. Yet, except for a few tales, the magic is watered down and it's reality that is now poured stiff. . . . This collection is a sober, clear-eyed attempt to observe the evasion and confrontation of suffering and loss, and to hope for something better." --New York Daily News "It's been a few years since we've gotten something new from Japan's master of magical realism, but this new seven-story collection draws us right back into his signature realm--one of lonely men with wandering imaginations, mysterious cats, and subtle-yet-surreal narratives that reveal the supernatural layer operating beneath our everyday lives." -- W Magazine "Vintage Murakami. . . . Compellingly odd. . . . A glimpse into the strange worlds people invent by the always inventive [author]. . . . Elegant." -- Kirkus Reviews "Thought-provoking." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Superb." -- SF Weekly "A new Haruki Murakami book is always cause for celebration. . . . These stories are filled with all of the luminous, magical elements that make Murakami's writing so fascinating." -- Bustle "Funny and surreal." --io9 "A funny, lovely, unmistakably Murakami collection." -- BuzzFeed, One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post , NPR, and Esquire "[A] beguilingly irresistible book. Like a lost lover, it holds on tight long after the affair is over." -- The New York Times Book Review "Classic Murakami. . . . [His] voice--cool, poised, witty, characterized by a peculiar blend of whimsy and poignancy, wit and profundity--hasn't lost its power to unsettle even as it amuses." -- The Boston Globe "Time and again in these seven stories, Murakami displays his singular genius." -- Los Angeles Times "Intimate, captivating and poignant. . . . A short story is brief enough to be perfectible--and Men Without Women showcases that." -- The Kansas City Star "Beautifully rendered." -- Financial Times "Affecting. . . . Murakami is a master of the open-ended mystery. . . . His meandering, mesmerizing tales of profound alienation are driven by puzzling circumstances that neither his characters nor readers can crack--recalling existentialist Gabriel Marcel's assertion that 'Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be experienced.'" -- The Washington Post "[Murakami] remains in top form." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Each of the seven stories here [is] a gem in and of its own right, but strung together they're a sparkling strand of precious stones, the light refracted from each equally brilliant but the tones varying subtly. . . . I have something of a love/hate relationship with short stories. Too many mediocre offerings leave me despairing of the genre, but then a collection like Men Without Women comes along and all is forgiven, my faith restored in the recognition of how utterly perfect the medium can be--in the right hands." --Lucy Scholes, The Independent "Charming and funny." -- Vulture "The best of these stories hold the excitement of a quest: These odd episodes of awakening desire show men startled into an awareness of how they have shorted themselves on life." --Minneapolis Star Tribune "Murakami's greatest strength is his creation of environments just eccentric enough to wrong-foot you--not exactly magical realism, but perhaps enigmatic realism. . . . When his writing is at its best, his characters act as a fisheye lens through which to scrutinize a slightly off-kilter world that surrounds them." -- The New Republic "Masterful. . . . The mundane gives way suddenly, like an ice floe cracking under our feet, only to reconstitute itself a moment later and swallow up that brief glimpse of what lies below." -- Vice "A whimsical delight. . . . Sanity might be overrated, but Murakami is surely not." -- The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Including the story "Drive My Car"--now an Academy Award-nominated film--this collection from the internationally acclaimed author "examines what happens to characters without important women in their lives; it'll move you and confuse you and sometimes leave you with more questions than answers" (Barack Obama). Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka's Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work., "Haruki Murakami's Men Without Women examines what happens to characters without important women in their lives; it'll move you and confuse you and sometimes leave you with more questions than answers." --Barack Obama Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka's Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work., NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Including the story "Drive My Car"--now an Academy Award -nominated film--this collection from the internationally acclaimed author "examines what happens to characters without important women in their lives; it'll move you and confuse you and sometimes leave you with more questions than answers" (Barack Obama). Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka's Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all. In Men Without Women Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic, marked by the same wry humor and pathos that have defined his entire body of work.
![Men Without Women: Stories [Vintage International]](https://ir.ebaystatic.com/rs/c/prpweb-src-images-space-98af7172.gif)