ITEM #33: BOOK – In the miso soup by Ryu Murakami

I bought this book from Kinoyuniya in Sydney in 2005 after looking for other books by another Murakami (the one who wrote Sputnik Sweetheart). My boyfriend J and I were really into Japanese literature at the time after our trip to Japan. I even paid $30 for this book – which I would never do nowadays.

This book is nothing like the other Murakami’s writing… who likes to name drop about other writers and musicians and things. There is much more blood, guts and nudity in this. I’ve since read another one of Ryu Murakami’s books (Piercing) and have decided that maybe I’m not cut out to be one of his fans.

If you’re going to Japan soon, it’s great to read this kind of stuff to get you in the mood.

Here’s the first paragraph on the inside jacket…
“It’s just before New Year.

Frank, an overweight American tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a guided tour of Tokyo’s nightlife on three successive evenings. But Frank’s behaviour is so strange that Kenji beings to entertain a horrible suspicion: that his client may be in fact the killer currently terrorizing the city.”