I turn to Murakami usually for his works of fiction - Kafka on the Shore is my favourite novel of all time - but his personal voice really calls to me, so the publication of Novelist as a Vocation greatly excited me. I had previously read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which stands as my favourite Murakami non-fiction work, and was curious about what other information he had to offer. What I have decided upon reading Novelist is that I love hearing about Murakami’s personal routine, his writing process, and the way his mind works, however, I don’t feel as though his advice for aspiring writers is as engaging or as valuable. He acknowledges several times in the book that his advice will not be applicable to everyone, so in that sense, he avoids coming across as arrogant (a fate which many non-fiction writers succumb to), yet his statement stands true. As a huge fan of Murakami’s fiction, I greatly enjoyed hearing about his writing process of some of my favourite novels, but he also had some fantastic insights into the publication industry, target audiences, and the education system in both Japanese and Western culture. I’ll happily read anything Murakami ever writes, and even though a lot of his advice didn’t apply to me on a personal level, I still greatly enjoyed this.