Famous Writers with Cats: Haruki Murakami

Writers need inspiration somewhere in life, and for many that inspiration comes from their pet cats.

This is a running series where we post pictures of famous writers with their feline companions--the cute, the cuddly, the creepy. And that's just the writers.


Today:  Haruki Murakami

The cat's face says panic, but Murakami's sense of style says mimosas and $50 Eggs Benedict.

I'm not sure why we're in a carpet store, though. Everyone knows white cat hair is going to do a number on those rugs.

Famous Writers Shirtless: Haruki Murakami

Writers are never known as the studliest or sexiest of people, but that doesn't stop them from showing some skin for the camera once in awhile.

So, occasionally we'll post some literary beefcake for your perusal.


Today:  Haruki Murakami

That's not how to parkour, Haruki!

Most shirtless writers don't usually limber up before running. That's because most writers don't move faster than a jaunty stroll.

If Murakami ever kicked you he'd go on trial for attempted murder, because those calf muscles are lethal weapons.

It's that time of year again to start laying odds on the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Is money burning a hole in your pocket? Are you a degenerate gambler with a penchant for dropping some coin on awards out of Sweden? Good news then! It's Nobel Prize week, and this Thursday the Nobel in Literature will be announced.

But the real question is: Who to lay the hot money on?

Nicerodds.co.uk has collected the odds from various gambling websites, and the favorite isn't a household name in American households.

Svetlana Alexievich, a novelist and journalist out of Belarus, is the odds-on favorite at roughly 6-to-1.

Haruki Murakami is second at roughly 8-to-1.

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (8/1), Joyce Carol Oates (12/1), and Philip Roth (13/1) round out the top five favorites.

What does all this mean?

Some obscure Swedish writer none of us have ever heard of will win.

Follow the Swedish money: Apparently betting on the Nobel Prize in Literature is a thing.

If it's been said once, it's been said a thousand times: You're not a degenerate gambler until you play the long odds and throw some cash on Margaret Atwood winning a Nobel.

With the announcement of 2014's Nobel Prizes coming up in October, apparently one can lay some money on the outcome of who the next Laureate in Literature will be. And it's not just a recent phenomenon either. As Alex Donahue, spokesperson for Ladbrokes--the UK's leading gambling site--tells The Guardian, "We've been taking bets for this year from the day of the announcement last year," when Alice Monroe was announced as the Nobel winner.

Favorites to win aren't just randomly assigned odds. As Donahue states, it's all about how the Swedes are betting, as they have their fingers on the pulse of momentum. "It's always worth following the Swedish money and at this stage the one they like is Ngugi wa Thiong'o," said Donahue, referring to the famous Kenyan writer who was arrested in 1976 on orders by the country's vice president for creating uncensored political messages. Ngugi would end up writing one of his future novels, Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ (Devil on the Cross), on prison toilet paper while spending a year behind bars.

Ngugi might have momentum with a betting line at 6/1, but he still doesn't have the best odds. Those go to Haruki Murakami at 5/1. Others in the realm of potential include Joyce Carol Oates at 12/1, Philip Roth at 16/1, Thomas Pynchon at 25/1, Don Delillo at 25/1, and Margaret Atwood at 33/1. The likes of Salman Rushdie, Cormac McCarthy, and even that plagiarizing literary sage Bob Dylan bring up the betting odds rear at 50/1.

Dylan's odds, according to Donahue, are based off two bets that came in from Sweden.

Hell, if that's all it takes, I'll find two Swedish guys named Bjorn and Henrik to lay $5 on me and call myself a Nobel contender.

The UK's education minister does away with Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, and others.

If ever there was something the world could agree on, it's that the British have always been overlooked in the field of literature. After all, those scrappy no-names with a can-do attitude have only won ten Nobel Prizes in literature, so it's a wonder that anyone in the United Kingdom can even read.

This is the only rationale to explain how the U.K.'s education minister, Michael Gove, is revamping the criteria for the exam boards the country's 16-year olds will take. Gone are reading lists allowing for world and American literature. Instead, lists demanding a greater emphasis solely on British literature have been put in place.

American books struck from the list include Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, plays like Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and the poetry of Maya Angelou and others.

Literature from around the world including the likes of Chinua Achebe, Haruki Murakami, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche have also been withdrawn.

New requirements instituted by Min. Gove--which already included required Shakespeare texts, among others--now demand students examine a post-1914 work from a "British Isles" writer. Previously, rules stipulated only "contemporary writers," ignoring country altogether.

Gove claims he's broadening, not shrinking, the wealth of literature at a British student's disposal, writing in London's The Telegraph "culture warriors" are to blame for the uproar.

Meanwhile, Toni Morrison has come out proclaiming a full-on nationwide conspiracy, telling The Telegraph this whole mess is just because America started ignoring British literature years ago, so it's an eye for an eye.

"So now it's just payback. Just because we got rid of English literature as a subject and moved to American, you're going to fix it," Morrison said.

You're going to fix it. Sounds delightfully passive aggressive.

Michael Gove could learn a thing from an American writer.

But, you know...



photo: Wales Online