The American Library Association, including its divisions, offices, and round tables, recognize books and other media of distinction each year, covering a variety of age groups and subject areas. Below you will find a review of one of ALA's lauded books. To read about all of ALA's book and media awards and its notable books and media of distinction, visit our ALA Awards and Notable Books page.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Haruki Murakami
Notable Books for Adults Winner
This well-honored and avidly read Japanese writer, who is the author, most recently, of the novel Kafka on the Shore (2005), extols the virtues of, as well as admits to a fondness for, the short story form ("a joy") in his introduction to this selection of 25 of his short works. Readers who fear the short story, particularly by writers with a high literary reputation, need to set hesitations aside here. Murakami is an open-armed, hospitable short story writer who avoids the obscurantism often caused by the concision that the form requires. His stories have an oral tone, a greatly appealing and embracing personal narrative voice. "Yep, that’s life all right," says the narrator of "A Perfect Day for Kangaroos," on the subject of finding a suitable day—what with inclement weather and health issues—to visit the zoo. The sheer perfection of that story is counterpoised by "Tony Takitani," a longer and more elaborate but no less jolting story about a man’s life, which begins and ends in loneliness. The title story is a low-key but poignant memoir-type narrative about a young man’s caring for his hearing-impaired cousin, and the pleasure of "The Mirror" arises from the feel it gives of an Edith Wharton ghost story. The beauty of the author’s prose style seals every story’s sharp delivery. - Brad Hooper