Thanks to Soft Skull Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available!

Clearheaded and precise, David Karashima's Who We're Reading When We're Reading Murakami presents an often underdiscussed topic in translated international fiction. Hardly anyone who reads literary fiction can claim to not know the name Murakami or be immediately absorbed into his world of Japanese magical realism. However, Murakami, or rather the English translation of Murakami, is not who we think he is. By delving into the world of translators, publishers and editors, Karashima takes the reader into a behind the scenes journey of literary fiction, one that we as readers rarely have the chance to enter. It is fascinating to consider, for example, how the order of the novels published makes an impact on an author's ability to break into the American market, how certain words and characters might be dramatically changed by the slight of the translator's hand and the unknowing, long lasting impact it can have. Karashima makes the journey both accessible and entertaining, at times even drawing on a little bit of Murakami's magic himself.