Novelist as a Vocation: Compelling look at mysteries of the novel from a master of the art

“There are three rules for writing a novel,” Somerset Maugham declared. “Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” Haruki Murakami doesn’t claim to know the rules of fiction writing, but in Novelist as a Vocation the bestselling author offers a revealing glimpse into the mechanics and mysteries of storytelling.

Now 73, Murakami has published 14 novels. Often described as reclusive, the Japanese author is best known for Norwegian Wood – his 1987 coming-of-age novel. Murakami’s ...