Murakami to publish first short story collection in 9 years

The collection will include five short novels which have already been published separately in magazines and one new offering.
Among them is a 24-page novella, "Drive my car -- men without women", which contained a passage which offended a small Japanese town for suggesting its residents habitually throw lit cigarettes from car windows.
Murakami has expressed regret over his portrayal of the town and said he intends to change the name when the story comes out in book form.
Murakami, 65, whose often surrealist works have been translated into about 40 languages, is widely spoken of as a future Nobel Literature laureate.
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