Originally published in 2002 as 海辺のカフカ (Umibe no Kafuka)Winner of the 2006 World Fantasy AwardOne of The 10 Best Books of 2005 (New York Times)Kafka Tamuraruns away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.The agingNakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant & dreamlike masterpiece.