i picked this up after reading Birthday Girl and deciding that yeah, i think i may like murakami's style after all. i chose this one because i like easing into the authors that intimidate me (i did the same with stephen king, back then), and i think it's a good call on my part, and i feel ready to take on norwegian wood next, which i think i'll probably like better than i liked first person singular.

thats not murakami's fault, per se. we just dont share a lot of real life interests outside of, well, literature, i suppose. so, the sheer amount of entire paragraphs about jazz music details were frankly annoying to read, and the one short story about the poet who writes about his favorite baseball team didnt do it for me. it was the topic itself that i didnt like, but i did like the execution.

the style is unnecessarily complex, which is kind of the point, isnt it? but its enjoyable regardless. my favorite story is the one about the talking monkey, obviously. i also like that at the end of at least half of the stories, you're like, "is op insane?" good vibes overall.

also: i totally get why we cite murakami when we discuss women written by men. a good chunk of my pencil notes in the book are calling out mild casual mysogyny or just plain questionable thoughts, that would have been easier to pass if the stories didnt feel so, well, personal. most of them read like diary entries, in a way, which made me think, "hm, maybe reconsider that thing you just said?"

overall, it makes some good, introspective points about diverse topics, and its a relatively light read with a very specific, cool, kinda hazy vibe to it. i enjoyed it!