Shams El-Mutwalli Dubai

Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has released a new literary text, his latest collection of eight short stories titled First Person Singular went on sale on April 6 worldwide.

“Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist,” Murakami’s official website states.

Murakami’s website also mentions that some of the themes in the book include basketball, and jazz—two of the author’s passions.

The style of writing resembles many of Murakami’s previous works, as “these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world,” the website claims.

The book, which has been translated into English by Philip Gabriel, is available in multiple formats such as an eBook, audiobook and hardcover and can be purchased for approximately $28, (3,075.32 yen) online.

To promote the launch of the latest text, Murakami’s website has released a quote gallery, featuring images decorated with passages from the short stories.

“I believe that love is the indispensable fuel for us to go on living,” one reads, from the short story “Confessions of a Shinagawa Money.”

Although new to Murakami’s English readers, some of the short stories included in this text were previously published between 2018 and 2020 in Japanese.

This is only one of Murakami’s achievements this year, as the writer recently collaborated with Uniqlo and delivered the congratulatory speech at his alma mater, Waseda University.