Dance Dance Dance: A Novel

Haruki Murakami

Vintage Books, 1995 - Fiction - 393 pages

He burst upon the international scene with the wildly acclaimed A Wild Sheep Chase. He quickly came to represent the quirky voice of a new generation of Japanese writers. Now Haruki Murakami gives us his wittiest, boldest, most daring work to date. Dance dance dance continues the extraordinary adventure of an ordinary man. At thirty something, Murakami's nameless hero lives in a hi-tech, high-rise world where old virtues die fast and success is all that matters. He has shared in the glittering city's spoils, and while he has not sold his soul, he knows that something is lacking in his life. Now, in dreams, a mysterious woman weeps softly - for him. Yet, even as he tries to understand why, the voice that beckons is not hers. And still he dreams. Bizarre dreams that propel him down byways of his life in search of ... ? His is a strange odyssey: en route, a thirteen-year-old girl, distressingly beautiful and clairvoyant, is his constant companion; a classmate, now oozing charm on TV soaps, grapples with murder; a lady of the night becomes his guardian angel; and an eccentric Sheep Man materializes to counsel and cajole. What's a fellow to do? Dance. You gotta dance as long as the music plays. And dance is what our hero does ... in the most unexpected ways!

About the author

Author Haruki Murakami was born on January 12, 1949 in Kyoto, Japan, and most of his youth was spent in Kobe. Murakami's parents both taught Japanese literature. Murakami studied at Tokyo's Waseda University. He opened a coffeehouse/jazz bar in the capital called Peter Cat with his wife, Yoko. He later turned to writing full time following the publication of his first novel in 1979, Hear the Wind Sing. Murakami received national recognition for Norwegian Wood and is considered by many to be an important figure in postmodern literature. His fiction is described as humorous and surreal, and the themes of alienation and loneliness are often present in his works. Several of his stories have been adapted for the stage and as films. Murakami has also written nonfiction, including works dealing with the Aum Shinrikyo subway gas attack, as well as a collection of essays about his marathon and triathlon experiences, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. He has translated into Japanese literature written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, John Irving, and Paul Theroux. Murakami has received numerous literary awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize for his novel Kafka on the Shore and the Yomiuri Prize for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. In January 2009 Murakami received the Jerusalem Prize. His title 1Q84 made Publisher's Weekly best seller list for 2011.

Birnbaum is a writer and editor. Since 1992 and further studies on Southeast Asian history at SOAS and the University of Tokyo's Institute for Asian Architecture.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Dance Dance Dance: A Novel; Vintage International Series; Vintage books
• Author: Haruki Murakami
• Translated by: Alfred Birnbaum
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Vintage Books, 1995
• ISBN: 0679753796, 9780679753797
• Length: 393 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Literary