First Person Singular (short story collection)

First Person Singular (Japanese: 一人称単数, Hepburn: Ichininshō Tansū) is a collection of eight stories by Haruki Murakami.[1] It was first published on 18 July 2020 by Bungeishunjū. As its title suggests, all eight stories in the book are told in a first-person singular narrative.[2]

First Person Singular
First edition cover (Bungeishunjū, 2020)
AuthorHaruki Murakami
Original titleIchininshō Tansū (一人称単数)
TranslatorPhilip Gabriel
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
GenreShort story collection
PublisherBungeishunjū
Publication date
18 July 2020
Published in English
6 April 2021
Media typePrint (hardcover), e-book
Pages240
ISBN978-4-16-391239-4 (hardcover)
OCLC1176350511

Contents
  • "On a Stone Pillow" (石のまくらに, Ishi no Makura ni)
  • "Cream" (クリーム, Kurīmu)
  • "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova" (チャーリー・パーカー・プレイズ・ボサノヴァ, Chārī Pākā Pureizu Bosanova)
  • "With the Beatles" (ウィズ・ザ・ビートルズ, Wizu za Bītoruzu)
  • "The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection" (ヤクルト・スワローズ詩集, Yakuruto Suwarōzu Shishū)
  • "Carnaval" (謝肉祭, Shanikusai)
  • "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey" (品川猿の告白, Shinagawa Saru no Kokuhaku)
  • "First Person Singular" (一人称単数, Ichininshō Tansū)

Publication

The book's title story, "First Person Singular", is a new story that was previously unpublished. The other seven stories in the book were first published in the literary magazine Bungakukai between summer 2018 and winter 2020. Several stories in the book were also previously published in English in The New Yorker and Granta.[3] The book's eight stories are works of fiction. However, as in the case of "The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection", the lines between fiction and nonfiction are occasionally blurred.[2][4]

The book was announced on 4 June 2020.[5] It was first published on 18 July 2020 by Bungeishunjū.[6] An English translation by Philip Gabriel is scheduled for publication on 6 April 2021 by Alfred A. Knopf (US)[2] and Harvill Secker (UK).[7]

Reception

In its starred review, Publishers Weekly called the collection a "testament to Murakami's talent and enduring creativity" and wrote that "Murakami's gift for evocative, opaque magical realism" stood out in the stories "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova" and "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey".[4]

References
  1. "一人称単数　村上春樹著". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 29 August 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. "First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. Karashima, David (20 July 2020). "Five Japanese Authors Share Their Favorite Murakami Short Stories". Literary Hub. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  4. "Fiction Book Review: First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami, trans. from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel". Publishers Weekly. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. "村上春樹さん、６年ぶり短編小説集　7月18日に発売". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 4 June 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. "『一人称単数』村上春樹". books.bunshun.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. "First Person Singular". Penguin Books UK. Retrieved 26 December 2020.


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