Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love

Product Information

In Murakami T, the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts–including gems from the Springsteen on Broadway show in NYC, to the Beach Boys concert in Honolulu, to the shirt that inspired the beloved short story “Tony Takitani.” Accompanied by short, frank essays that have been translated into English for the first time, these photographs reveal much about Murakami’s multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona. The tactics he employs as a novelist have been discussed to death, but the agony uncle side of him, the uncaring, sloppy, endearing, and well-intentioned side of him, remains absurdly interesting out of all proportion to what he is writing about, which has long since ceased to matter, since all we want is more Murakami, more Murakami, more Murakami. I’m not particularly interested in collecting things, but there’s one sort of running motif in my life: despite my basic indifference, objects just seem to collect around me, of their own volition’ In works such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, What I Talk About When I Talk About Runningand Men Without Women, Murakami’s distinctive blend of the mysterious and the everyday, of melancholy and humour, continues to enchant readers, ensuring his place as one of the world’s most acclaimed and well-loved writers.

In Murakami T,the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts—from concert shirts to never-worn whiskey-themed Ts, and from beloved bookstore swag to the shirt that inspired the iconic short story “Tony Takitani.” These photographs are paired with short, frank essays that include Murakami’s musings on the joy of drinking Guinness in local pubs across Ireland, the pleasure of eating a burger upon arrival in the United States, and Hawaiian surf culture in the 1980s. However, I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It is effortlessly charming and delightful. You really get a sense of his character and who he is as a person through this collection. He is a fascinating person with diverse hobbies and interests; has a modest outlook on life and an effortless sense of humor (help, he is so funny). I also admire how deliberate he is with everything he collects, whether it’s his vinyl records or his t-shirts collection. All in all, I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates Murakami. Even if you are not a Murakami fan or never read any of his work, I believe you will be charmed by this book.The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle's T-shirt that he gets from a reader who was inspired to create it after reading the novel Haruki Murakami's books have galvanized millions around the world. Many of his fans know about his 10,000-vinyl-record collection, and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate, and perhaps more unique, passion: his T-shirt-collecting habit.

No need to describe that I’m one of Murakami biggest fans, I’ve read almost everything he wrote either in Arabic or English translation except (The underground). Reading this book was like a cozy invitation to his magical world & Murakami himself has invited me to do the introduction and telling stories about each certain category .. I admire the writer & his unique style in life .. that somehow felt so intimate and I’m totally grateful for giving me this chance! I enjoyed the laughter as he has a very nice sense of humour, the places that I would like to visit some day, his curiosity & searching everything on Google to get advices due to culture or historical differences. Murakami T is not significant or earth-shattering in any sense. He shows the readers his t-shirts collection - from a shirt that inspired “Tony Takitani” to shirts with cute animal design that he feel a little uncomfortable to wear; from shirts with the names of colleges on them to shirts that relate to books and reading; and from whiskey-themed shirt to the shirts he got after completing his running marathons. In the words of Murakami himself: “I doubt that this collection will be that useful to anyone, much less being of any help in solving any of the myriad problems we face at present.” Welcome to the other side of Murakami's world; no fictional characters whatsoever, just Murakami and a closet of his personal T-shirts collection with a writing series spotlighting those collection-- short and light, uniquely told, bit quirky and so chilled! As always, it's Murakami's mixture of casual friendliness paired with a kind of sagely wisdom that charms in the extreme. His eye for the bizarre, or just downright random. Did you know, for example, that 'If you wear a T-shirt with an animal design, the chances are very good that a girl or woman will tell you, "Whoa - that's so cute!"' - In Murakami's novels, chance encounters and happenstance like this are the stuff that a whole novel's worth of action springs forth from, but even here, these bitesize essays give off the buzz of the everyday banal turned life-affirming wonder. Philip Gabriel - serving on translation duties here hot on the heels of his work on Murakami's recent short stories collection First Person Singular as well as a number of earlier works - does sound business again in capturing this easy breeziness in all its glory. I didn't expect much going into the book cause let's be real, the moment I heard its about his collection of t-shirts.... I'm here going ... okay?Photograph of one of Murakami’s favourite T-shirts, which became the source inspiration for his “Tony Takitani” short story. Image sourced from World News

The essays and photos in Murakami T stem from Haruki Murakami’s collaboration with Japanese magazine, Popeye, and are translated into English for the first time here. Originally run in Popeye Magazine, the articles have been collected and printed in book format with two additional follow-up interviews at the end.In Murakami T, the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts - including gems found in bookshops, charity shops and record stores - from those featuring whisky, animals, cars and superheroes, to souvenirs of marathons and a Beach Boys concert in Honolulu, to the shirt that inspired the beloved short story 'Tony Takitani'. Accompanied by short, frank essays that have been translated into English for the first time, these photographs reveal much about Murakami's multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona.