The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami

” In a masterful synthesis, Matthew Strecher delves deeply into questions of language, religion, mythology, psychology, and the boundaries between literature and journalism to demonstrate with great clarity and concreteness how Murakami belongs in the company of such writers as Pynchon, Eco, and Rushdie.” -Jay Rubin, author of Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words

“This guide clearly synthesizes the inner world enshrining Haruki Murakami’s characters.”-World Literature Today

“Strecher’s latest book is erudite without being overly academic. A lively and engaging read.”-The Japan Times

“Strecher neatly maps out the impression the young Murakami made on the hidebound world of Japanese literature and its overarching literary guild, one entrenched by respect, routine, and what literature ought to do.”-Pop Matters

“An original and insightful book-a genuine pleasure to read.”-H-Net

“Useful for providing frames through which to read Murakami and for a detailed overview of his work.”-CHOICE

“This well-researched monograph not only contributes to deepening our understanding of Murakami’s work, but, more importantly, Strecher reaffirms the bottomless possibilities to enjoy reading this author’s stories.”-Asian Studies Review

“Like its subject, Strecher’s book does not offer an overall master map to this world but rather presents us with a variety of intriguing ideas to ponder and to provoke us toward our own interpretations of this tantalizing, multifaceted author.”-Journal of Japanese Studies

Matthew Carl Strecher is associate professor of Japanese language, literature, and culture at Winona State University. He is the author of Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Haruki Murakami and Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Reader’s Guide.