The Elephant Vanishes: Stories, the collection in which “The Elephant Vanishes” appears, has received much acclaim from American and Japanese critics, who have lauded Murakami's originality and cosmopolitan style. Herbert Mitgang writing in the New York Times notes: “There are 17 charming, humorous and frequently puzzling short stories in The Elephant Vanishes, some of which first appeared in The New Yorker. Nearly all bear the author's special imprint: a mixture of magical realism, feckless wandering and stylish writing, often ending at a blank wall.” Similarly, an anonymous reviewer writing in Publishers Weekly praises Murakami's unique talents, concluding that “In both his playful throwaway sketches and his darkly comic masterpieces, Murakami has proven himself a virtuoso with a fertile imagination.”

While acknowledging that Murakami has his detractors in Japan with some critics dismissing Murakami's writings as not serious enough to be high literature, Celeste Loughman in her review...