"These fifteen stories center around an eclectic cast of not-so-average Tokyoites in the decades of the eighties, nineties, and noughties - call girls, film directors, murderers and mental cases, truck drivers, hostesses, waiters, drug dealers, single mothers, and broken-hearted lovers. They all come alive here, channeled through the imaginative genius of Ryu Murakami, to share tales rich in humor, pathos, humanity, and hope. "--Page 4 of cover.