Sputnik Sweetheart was first published in 1999, followed by Kafka on the Shore in 2002. After the Kobe earthquake and the Aum Shinrikyo gas attack he wrote the non-fiction Underground, a series of interviews with the victims of the gas attack, and the short story collection After the Quake. This was followed by The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995) which deals in part with the difficult topic of war crimes in Manchukuo, China. But it was only with the book being reviewed today, Norwegian Wood, that he achieved national and international recognition, selling millions of copies. In 1985, Murakami wrote Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, a dreamlike fantasy. He won first prize for that and was encouraged to write a sequel, Pinball (1973) followed by A Wild Sheep Chase. He got his inspiration for his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing (1979) while watching a baseball game and he wrote it over 10 months at night after finishing work at the bar. Murakami is also an experienced marathon and triathlon enthusiast.

Both these experiences are reflected in the book being reviewed today. Then, together with his wife he opened a coffee house and jazz bar. Since childhood, Murakami has been influenced by Western culture, far more than his contemporary writers. His mother was the daughter of an Osaka merchant. His father was the son of a Buddhist priest who was involved in the Second Sino-Japanese War and was deeply traumatised by it. He was born in Kyoto during the post-World War II baby boom and was raised up in Kobe, as an only child. His work ranges from science fiction to fantasy to crime fiction.

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