This book is a collection of stories, from the surreal to the mundane, that shows animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an iceman, as well as the dreams that shape people and the things they might wish for. Whether during a chance reunion in Italy, a romantic exile in Greece, a holiday in Hawaii, or in the grip of everyday life, Murakami’s characters confront grievous loss, or sexuality, or the glow of a firefly, or the impossible distances between those who ought to be the closest of all.