After the Quake

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After the Quake, a collection of short stories by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin (Alfred A. Knopf, 2002).

...the letter his wife left for him when she vanished five days after the earthquake was different: I am never coming back, she had written, then went on to explain, simply but clearly, why she no longer wanted to live with him.  
--From "UFO in Kushiro," pp. 3-28, originally published as "U.F.O. in Koshiro" in The New Yorker. 

 

..."So Masakichi the Bear went to town and found a spot for himself in the square.  He put up a sign: Deeelicious Honey.  All Natural.  One Cup ¥ 200." 

"Can bears write?"

"No, of course not," Junpei said.  "There was a nice old man with a pencil sitting next to him, and he asked him to write it."

--From "Honey Pie," pp. 141-181, originally published in The New Yorker (August 20, 2001).