Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love

“With this many, I never have to worry about what to wear in the summer. I could wear a different one each day and never wear the same one twice. Nice being a writer sometimes, right?”

This was an unexpected library find, as I wasn't even aware something like this was coming out. I love Murakami books, I love off-the-wall book topics, and I love t-shirts. This seemed like it'd be a slam dunk. And, honestly, it was.

This is essentially an art book with commentary. Murakami turns out his closet for the benefit of the author, his favorite t-shirts were grouped by category, and we get a lot of musing essays about what he was thinking when he bought them, where he was at the time, and commentary about the topic in general. While mundane in approach (and I absolutely can understand why this book didn't click with some people), I really actually appreciated learning a bit more about Murakami through his t-shirt choices. Beyond the obvious “I like jazz” and “I like whiskey”, I got little nuggets like, Goodwill is his favorite place to shop for t-shirts, he loves a good burger when he travels to the US, and he's not overly fond of lizards. I sort of appreciate little things like that.

So, if you like Murakami, will you like this? I mean, maybe? A cautious maybe? If you like novelty books, t-shirts, and Murakami, definitely. If you're looking for more biographical info, author info, life lessons info, probably not.

I'm definitely going to be giving people at Goodwill the side-eye now. Just in case.

Consumerism, yay? I'm torn, honestly. The premise of discussing such a collection is silly, though anything can become a writing prompt for a creative mind. BUT it emphasizes a big problem in fashion waste, which is: exactly how easy it is to accrue so many tee shirts, even those you don't intend to wear! To be fair, it sounds like a lot were bought second hand, gifted, or resulted from participating in events. Those last two categories exacerbate the waste problem. On a less serious note, if you're going to ask a person about their t-shirt collection, make sure they've lived an interesting life, so you get nifty anecdotes along the way. Approachable writing style makes me curious to try out his fiction works. On the purely aesthetic side, my favourites were the hot pink shirt with a row of ukeleles from Hawaii, and the one with the badass winged green octopus.