A review by sonalipawar26
Birthday Stories: Selected and Introduced by Haruki Murakami by Haruki Murakami

4.0

Trust Murakami to make even a special and happy day like a birthday sound morose.
Murakami has searched heaven and earth for short stories with 'birthday' as a central theme. This collection consists of stories by Russell Banks, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Claire Keegan, Andrea Lee, Daniel Lyons, Lewis Robinson, Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux, William Trevor, and Haruki Murakami.
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Almost the stories have a sombre tone to them, and, much to my surprise, I found Murakami's story, Birthday Girl, to be the least sad. In fact, it was on a happier side!
I fell in love with the beautifully written stories by these contemporary authors; their writing is effortless. I couldn't find a single boring story in this collection. Not to mention, Murakami's story outweighed the rest (call me biased).
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If you're going through a reading slump or not in a mood to read a full-fledged novel, do pick this up. VERDICT: Worth reading!