Haruki Murakami gives readers further advice on writing, adultery and cats

Novelist, who has become a very literary kind of agony uncle, continues to respond to a wide range of fans’ concerns

Writing is like “chatting up a woman”, Japan’s superstar novelist Haruki Murakami has said: “You can get better with practice to a certain degree, but basically, you’re either born with it, or you’re not.”

The novelist was responding online to one of the questions he has received from fans over the last few days, in his new guise as Japan’s most literary agony uncle. He began posting last Friday on a site, Murakami-san no tokoro – or Mr Murakami’s Place – set up by his publisher, Shinchosa, which has said he will be taking questions until the end of the month.

Continue reading...