{"id":2715,"date":"2022-03-15T11:16:55","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T16:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/38enso.com\/?p=2715"},"modified":"2022-03-22T15:29:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:29:48","slug":"murakami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/38enso.com\/?p=2715","title":{"rendered":"Murakami"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ARC, sampler, and galley<\/p><\/div>\n

The other day one of the Gen Z’s in the office mentioned that she once read Haruki Murakami<\/a>, but all his recent books seem the same. Could this be true? I’ve no idea. I have only read the earlier ones.<\/p>\n

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was the national accounts sales director at Knopf. I was about the same age then as the Gen Z mentioned above. This was when almost everyone from publisher would go to sales conference at a resort for 10 days. I think we were at Camelback outside of Phoenix, AZ. Each book was presented and discussed – some for 30 minutes or more. We would listen to editors talk up books but more importantly the sales reps could pontificate about a book they loved.<\/p>\n

One of the more seasoned reps, Howie from the Bay Area stood up and started to talk about the greatness of Murakami. Howie was a crazy dude, who was known to champion the most obscure titles. He scared me a bit. He gave a 10 minute impassioned speech for THE WIND UP BIRD CHRONICLE. <\/a>This publication was in hardcover and Murakami had not had a USA bestseller yet. I think he sold less than 5,000 of his previous titles. I don’t remember what Howie said, but it was convincing. That night at the party (every night there was a free bar), Howie gave another speech about the book.<\/p>\n

I had to read it, I had to read Murakami. I did. WIND UP BIRD is not an easy read. It is confusing, It is here, it is there. Where? Is that a tower? Is that a talking cat?\u00a0 Am I listening on the radio or is it in my head? Is this my beautiful wife? Exactly.<\/p>\n

It worked for me. It opened me up to novels and the possibility that the real is not real. I became fascinated with Murakami.<\/p>\n

I gave copies to my family — and they are “what is this?” But read WIND UP BIRD and you will be changed. This book is that profound.<\/p>\n

I went on to read every Murakami that had been translated at that time:<\/p>\n

I went back and read (with pub dates):<\/p>\n