Book Review: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

This is Murakami's most recent book, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I whipped through it and was disappointed. It's basically a book about running. Not a novel, but a self-reflection. One would think that getting into Murakami's thoughts would be fascinating. Not so. He compares running to the art of writing, and writes about how running has impacted his life. Maybe I have to be a runner to appreciate it? Murakami does offer some glimpses into his personality and personal life. It was fun to read that he used to own a jazz bar, as I just finished his book South of the Border, West of the Sun, in which the main character owns a jazz bar. Although it's interesting to see how some of his characters may be shaped in his novels, there is a lot missing to this book--the quirkiness, the surrealism, the humor.