The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

Details:

The stories were written between 1983 and 1990. It was published in English by Knopf in 1993.

I read it in 2009 for an intro to fiction writing class. 

From the Publisher:

With the same deadpan mania and genius for dislocation that he brought to his internationally acclaimed novels A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami makes this collection of stories a determined assault on the normal. A man sees his favorite elephant vanish into thin air; a newlywed couple suffers attacks of hunger that drive them to hold up a McDonald's in the middle of the night; and a young woman discovers that she has become irresistible to a little green monster who burrows up through her backyard.

By turns haunting and hilarious, The Elephant Vanishes is further proof of Murakami's ability to cross the border between separate realities -- and to come back bearing treasure.

First Line:

I'm in the kitchen cooking spaghetti when the woman calls.

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