First published 1991
Murakami's nameless hero, a jaded thirty-something, is haunted by a woman's spectral voice calling to him from his dreams. Drawn into a surreal underworld, he encounters a beautiful teenage psychic, a TV star facing murder charges, and a mystical Sheep Man offering cryptic advice. As he searches for the vanished woman, he's swept up in a maelstrom of sexual violence, metaphysical dread, and cultural satire. Can he find the answers he seeks amid the chaos of contemporary Japan?
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: supernatural-elements, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Japan
Period: 1980s
416 pages · Paperback
Content warnings: sexual-content, violence