A quick addendum to yesterday’s post: I am now reading a New York Times Magazine article on Haruki Murakami from last fall (as you can see, I’m behind on my reading…). Murakami’s latest, 1Q84, is on my reading list, and I have read a few of his short stories in The Elephant Vanishes, which he was kind enough to sign for me during his recent reading at Hofstra University. His stuff has been called “supernaturally entertaining” and “strange fun” and “literary fantasy.” Imagine… literary fantasy. Looks like vampires and boogeymen aren’t just fodder for commercial fiction, after all — not that there’s anything wrong with commercial fiction. (I’m not a big fan of the distinction between literary fiction and commercial fiction. I mean, I like a Big Mac just as much as I like a steak, and which one I eat is dependent on my mood.) I hope that somewhere out there my fellow grad student and writer — the one who penned a ill-received fantasy novel and left our little fiction class forever — is smiling.