Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter 1: Murakami's Self-Conscious Ambivalence as a Japanese Writer -- Chapter 2: Beyond National Canonicity: Murakami and the Japanese Literary Canon -- Chapter 3: Translation as a Beneficial Diversion for Murakami's Fiction Writing -- Chapter 4: "The Second Bakery Attack": The Induced Burial of Young Aspirations -- Chapter 5: "The Elephant Vanishes": What Efficiency Produces -- Chapter 6: "TV People": The Slick Assault by Electronic Media -- Chapter 7: Televisual Appropriation and Fear in "TV People" and Ringu.

In the context of Haruki Murakamii's real-life activities that are conducive to his writing, this book sheds light on three of his early short stories. Comparable to his acclaimed novels in complexity and covert meaning, they reveal upon close analysis his distinctive literary creativity and enduring concerns with society.