Lost in the Music: The Essential Haruki Murakami

Nobody writes loneliness, jazz, and the surreal like Haruki Murakami. Japan's most internationally celebrated author has built a body of work unlike anything else in contemporary fiction -- dreamlike plots, lovesick protagonists, cats that talk, and worlds that slide sideways into something stranger. This challenge covers the essential Murakami reading list, from the heartbreaking simplicity of Norwegian Wood to the labyrinthine epic of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. If you're looking for where to start with Murakami, Norwegian Wood. Then go from there.