I'm always fascinated to learn about successful artists' and writers' journeys and creative processes. I've admired Haruki Murakami for a while, so this book was extra fun to read. His fiction is known for using simple sentence structures, and the essays in this book about his career as a novelist follow this way of writing. He offers his own experience, all the while sharing his history (a treat, as he's notoriously shy of the public) and underlining that his story is his own - and may or may not apply to others. The few times he does dip into 'universal' language are, I think, the most inspirational parts of the book - the feeling of being in flow or 'in the zone'; overcoming obstacles, including one's own self-doubt; and the joy of producing some work that reflects you as an artist, regardless of what critics or others have to say. If you're a writer (and maybe even if you're not) you'll enjoy this very much.