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  • The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami book cover
  • The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami book cover
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The Elephant Vanishes

by Haruki Murakami

Everyday life slips into the uncanny

$15.86 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Everyday life slips into the uncanny

This collection brings together stories in which ordinary circumstances give way to startling disruptions: an elephant disappears, a newlywed couple’s hunger leads them to rob a McDonald’s, and a strange creature emerges in a backyard. The pieces move between recognizable settings and events that resist ordinary explanation, giving the collection a shared interest in the unstable boundary between the familiar and the surreal. It also includes “Barn Burning,” the story identified in the publisher description as the basis for the film *Burning*.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in short fiction that blends everyday situations with surreal or uncanny events.
  • Those exploring Haruki Murakami’s shorter fiction.
  • Readers seeking a collection that includes “Barn Burning.”

Themes

The familiar and the surrealDisappearance and disruptionHunger and desireReality and imagination

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In the tales that make up The Elephant Vanishes, the imaginative genius that has made Haruki Murakami an international superstar is on full display.

In these stories, a man sees his favorite elephant vanish into thin air; a newlywed couple suffers attacks of hunger that drive them to hold up a McDonald's in the middle of the night; and a young woman discovers that she has become irresistible to a little green monster who burrows up through her backyard. By turns haunting and hilarious, in The Elephant Vanishes Murakami crosses the border between separate realities--and comes back bearing remarkable treasures.

Includes the story "Barn Burning," which is the basis for the major motion picture Burning.
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