Haruki Murakami: New Short Story. New Book. And Perhaps Nobel Prize?

It’s a good time to be a fan of Haru­ki Muraka­mi. Last month, his short sto­ry, “Town of Cats,” was pub­lished in The New York­er. Lat­er in Octo­ber, his new book 1Q84 hits the stands in the US. (Watch the book trail­er above.) And, right now, the British book­mak­er Lad­brokes is giv­ing Muraka­mi 7‑to‑1 odds of win­ning the Nobel Prize in Lit­er­a­ture, to be named tomor­row morn­ing. They’re strong odds. But the Syr­i­an poet Ado­nis (read three poems here) is the actu­al favorite right now with 4‑to‑1 odds. Stay tuned. We’ll know more soon …