What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

May 12, 2008
Murakami's latest is a nonfiction work mostly concerned with his thoughts on the long-distance running he has engaged in for much of his adult life. Through a mix of adapted diary entries, old essays, reminiscences and life advice, Murakami crafts a charming little volume notable for its good-natured and intimate tone. While the subject matter is radically different from the fabulous and surreal fiction that Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
) most often produces, longtime readers will recognize the source of the isolated, journeying protagonists of the author's novels in the formative running experiences recounted. Murakami's insistence on focusing almost exclusively on running can grow somewhat tedious over the course of the book, but discrete, absorbing episodes, such as a will-breaking 62-mile “ultramarathon” and a solo re-creation of the historic first marathon in Greece serve as dynamic and well-rendered highlights. Murakami offers precious little insight into much of his life as a writer, but what he does provide should be of value to those trying to understand the author's long and fruitful career. An early section recounting Murakami's transition from nightclub owner to novelist offers a particularly vivid picture of an artist soaring into flight for the first time.

Starred review from June 15, 2008
Murakami is neither a conventional novelist nor a conventional memoirist. In this work whose title was inspired by Raymond Carver's short story collection "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", he explores how running has shaped his life. The best memoirs inform readers and enlighten them; this memoir contains practical philosophy from a man whose insight into his own character, and how running both suits and shapes that character, is revelatory and can provide tools for readers to examine and improve their own lives. Murakami wrote most of it between 2005 and 2006, but a key chapter from 1996 reinforces his later examination of his own development and the cadence of his life. This book will be appreciated by runners (as well as Murakami's usual readership) because it is ostensibly about running, but anyone interested in the processes of writing and self-examination will also be well served by it. Highly recommended for all collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 3/1/08.]Audrey Snowden, Cleveland P.L.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2008
Aspects of Murakamis sensibility, such as his love of music, can be discerned in his highly imaginative novels and short stories, yet it is startling to meet the author of such reality-warping works as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1997) face-to-face in this beguiling and generous memoir centered on the act of running. Murakami began running soon after he sold his Tokyo jazz club to write full time. Now, more than a dozen books and 20 marathons later, he considers the ways running engenders focus and endurance, qualities essential for writing. The propelling story line is Murakamis account of his rigorous training for the 2005 New York marathon. But he drops back often to recount such adventures as his exhausting run in Greece between Athens andMarathon and the unexpected repercussions of an ultramarathon (62 miles). He also ponders the frustrations and revelations of age and shares his love for American literature, including Raymond Carvers What We Talk about When We Talkabout Love (1981), which inspired the title of this meditative book of life lessons, artistic revelations, and humble self-analysis. Most of what I know about writing Ive learned through running every day, writes Murakami, a splendidly creative and compassionate writer who lives a disciplined life in order to infuse his fiction with wildness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)