Supremely enjoyable, philosophical and pitch-perfect new collection of short stories. . . Murakami has a marvellous understanding of youth and age - and the failings of each

Murakami writes of complex things with his usual beguiling simplicity. . . Strangely invigorating to read. . . It is Murakami at his whimsical, romantic best

Calculatedly provocative. . ., the stories offer sweet-sour meditations on human solitude and a yearning to connect. . . Murakami, always inventive, is one of the finest popular writers at work today

Written with all the cats, spaghetti, humor, and gentle surrealism we might expect . . . Men Without Women is a funny, lovely, unmistakably Murakami collection of seven stories about the lives of people trying to find their place in the world and reckoning with their pasts

A disconcertingly funny portrait of modern loneliness

Self-schooled and uncontaminated by writerly edicts, the 68-year-old presents subjects directly on a platter before the reader. . . but stirs up all kinds of themes and truths in the allegorical mud through his gentle, almost conversational style

One of the finest pieces of short-form writing I have enjoyed in many years… If the familiar way of Haruki Murakami are an enthusiasm, there is plenty here to divert the aficionado, but he also takes a turn into riskier territory that could well coax new readers into his distinctive world

Moments of melancholy and humour mix with acute observation in the latest offering by Japan’s master storyteller

A man who starves to death for love, a woman who claims she used to be a lamprey eel, a mysterious whiskey drinker who scares away gangsters – it is the secondary characters who truly come alive in these tales. Peppered with strange women and passive men, unexpected suicides and cats, these vignettes will leave readers questioning, and linger in the mind

A collection like Men Without Women [restores] my faith...in how utterly perfect [short stories] can be... each of the seven stories here… a gem in and of its own right, but strung together they’re a sparkling strand of precious stones, the light refracted from each equally brilliant but the tones varying subtly.

Elegant. . . Vintage Murakami. . . A glimpse into the strange worlds people invent by the always inventive Murakami

A subtle, always interesting collection

The dreamlike quality of the stories in Men Without Women is undoubtedly one of its chief attractions… Murakami’s womenless men live in perpetual daydreams, a state of mind often prompted by a loss of some kind… Murakami’s latest is a hypnotising study of male loneliness

Astonishing

A solid collection and a decent entry point to Murakami with a crisp take on love that should please fans

It’s a rather delightful foray into the surreal

Murakami still has something to say… A solid collection, this is a decent entry point to Murakami and should please fans

Marked by the same wry humour that has defined his work, in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic

Just as Hemingway’s tales of bullfighters, boxers and soldiers were fit for men living in the turbulent world of the 1920s, Murakami’s speak to the confusion and loneliness felt by many living in 2017

Gorgeously crafted… If you like Murakami and his usual shtick… you will find much to enjoy, and much that surprises you, here

Haruki Murakami is a master of the open-ended mystery… Drawn to the abiding strangeness and unfathomability of life. His meandering, mesmerising tales of profound alienation are driven by puzzling circumstances that neither his characters not readers can crack

These elegant stories are poignant and inventive

It’s easy to forget… what a masterful writer he is... The interplay of sadness and heartache with moments of humour and surrealness are what make him the writer he is… Subtle, playful and nuanced. It is a subversive, almost existential look at relationships between men and women, one that plays with and even does away with the toxic masculinity of Hemingway’s work

This scrutiny of both misogyny and the loss of male virility is delicately handled by Murakami, who manages to bring just enough of the surreal into the story without drawing too much attention to itself or indeed what it is he is trying to do. This is the magic of Murakami… Murakami’s prose throughout is, unsurprisingly, beautiful. He writes with his signature stripped down sparsity that nonetheless never loses warmth of becomes too conspicuous. His dialogue is natural and believable and he has truly mastered the ability to write simply about complex and nuanced themes

I was blown away by the sense of loneliness, longing and yearning in each story

Marked by the same dry humour that has defined his entire body of work, in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic.

A book of piercing stories. Murakami writes in a calm, clear way, and suddenly you’re very moved

Each story is centred around the concept of longing or loneliness, and all told with Murakami's unique and illuminating style. One for long-serving fans and newcomers alike

[A] masterclass in writing about the edges of everyday life. This collection of short stories that all link to the Sunshine State captures loneliness, alienation, abandonment and inner resourcefulness in the most creative of tales.

Fantastical tales ... You'll be swept up in a wild hurricane of a ride with this lyrical stories of fury and love, loss and hope.

Each story is perfectly formed, exquisite, often troubling but there is something so brilliantly humane about her work.

The five darkly comic stories that comprise The Largesse of the Sea Maiden are befitting final testaments to [Johnson’s] wild originality... His sentences, like his plots, are full of gorgeous little shocks.