Slow Boat

<p><strong>A startling novella from the heir to Haruki Murakami and Gabriel García Márquez</strong></p><p><em>'I've never made it out of Tokyo. I can't tell you how many times I've asked myself if the boundary is real. Of course it's real. And if you think I'm lying, you can come and see for yourself.'</em></p><p>Trapped in Tokyo, left behind by a series of girlfriends, the narrator of <em>Slow Boat</em> sizes up his situation. His missteps, his violent rebellions, his tiny victories. But he is not a passive loser, content to accept all that fate hands him. He attempts one last escape to the edges of the city, holding the only safety net he has known - his dreams.</p><p>Filled with lyrical longing and humour, <em>Slow Boat</em> captures perfectly the urge to get away and the necessity of finding yourself in a world which might never even be looking for you.</p><p><strong>Hideo Furukawa</strong>, born in 1966, is an acclaimed and prize-winning writer, hailed by many in Japan's literary world as a prodigy worthy of inheriting the mantle of Haruki Murakami. He was awarded the Mishima Prize in 2006 for <em>Love</em>. His best-known novel is the 2008 <em>Holy Family</em>, an epic work of alternate history set in north-eastern Japan, where he was born.</p>