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 on the Shoreis powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy,Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton calledNakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom.As their paths converge, and the reasons for that convergence become clear,Haruki Murakamienfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder.Kafka on the Shoredisplays one of the world’s great storytellers at the peak of his powers.