Men Without Women Stories

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami is a collection of seven stories united by a single theme: men who have, in various ways, been left — by death, disappearance, divorce, or the simple fact of emotional disconnection. Murakami, working in the compressed form of the short story, demonstrates the full range of his gifts: the quiet surrealism, the melancholy beneath the surface of ordinary life, the jazz and literature references, and the particular loneliness of men who cannot quite reach across the space between themselves and others. Published by Harvill Secker, these stories are among his most emotionally direct and formally accomplished, showing a writer at the height of his powers using the short form to explore what his novels sometimes approach more obliquely. Essential for Murakami devotees and an excellent introduction for new readers.