Almost Transparent Blue

It is a brutal tale of lost youth in a Japnese port town close to an American military base. Murakami's image-intensive narrative paints a portrait of a group of friends locked in a destructive cycle of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Representing a sharp and conscious turning away from the introspective trend of postwar Japnese literature, this book polarized critics and public alike and soon attracted international attention as an alternative view of modern Japan.