Abandoning a Cat: A personal story

“I recall now the expression on my father’s face—surprised at first, then impressed, then relieved—when the cat we had supposedly abandoned beat us home.”

Abandoning a Cat is Haruki Murakami at his most intimate. Here Murakami gives us the story of his father, the son of a Buddhist priest, who might have become a priest himself had a clerical error not sent him into the Second World War. It is a story of battles fought, both physically and emotionally, on the battleground and at home. It is a haunting reflection on what it means to be a father and what it means to be a son, on familial obligation and personal ambition, told across a century of Murakami’s family history.

Originally published in an abridged edi­tion in The New Yorker in 2019, Abandoning a Cat contains the full version of this poignant autobiographical work by the beloved and best­selling writer.