Would have been 5 stars save for the inclusion of the stories "TV People" and "The Dancing Dwarf." And overall, just a little too twee for me. Take a lesson from Donald Barthelme, Haruki: absurdist stories work best when they're 1) concise and 2) the wackiness serves a deeper purpose.

There's far too much banality in terms of action, plot and character in these stories. So many repetitions that don't add up to anything. Maybe it's the translation's fault but far too many English cliches ("In my opinion" "In any case") that just bog things down. And rhetorical questions. Not all the stories are dreadful--but when they suck they really suck.