Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is another collection of beautiful stories from the lyrically unconventional imagination of Haruki Murakami. Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us & the things we might wish for. Whether in a chance reunion in Italy, a romantic exile in Greece, a holiday in Hawaii or in the vicelike grip of everyday life, Murakami’s wonderfully inventive characters confront loss, sexuality, the glow of a firefly, or the impossible distance between those who ought to be closest of all. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit his ability to transform the full range of the human experience & condition in ways that are instructive, surprising & relentlessly entertaining.