Officials at Knopf announced today that they will publish The Strange Library, an illustrated story by Haruki Murakami. The book will be released on December 2, and will be Murakami’s second work of fiction published in 2014, following the #1 bestseller Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage, which debuted last month.
"Murakami continues to dazzle readers with fantastical feats of storytelling," said Knopf’s Sonny Mehta, who called The Strange Library “as scary and surprising as anything [Murakami] has ever written."
In addition to a “fantastical storyline,” Knopf officials say the short, 96-page book, translated from the Japanese by Ted Goossen, will be “inventively packaged in a top-to-bottom wrap-around jacket and illustrated throughout with full-color art.” The book has been designed by Chip Kidd, Knopf’s associate art director.
The book will sell for $18 with announced first printing of 75,000 copies.
