Slow Boat by Hideo Furukawa

Trade paperback format.  Part of Pushkin Press' excellent Japanese Novella series.

A startling novella from the heir to Haruki Murakami and Gabriel García Márquez

Trapped in Tokyo, left behind by a series of girlfriends, the narrator of Slow Boat sizes up his situation. His missteps, his violent rebellions, his tiny victories. But he is not a passive loser, content to accept all that fate hands him. He attempts one last escape to the edges of the city, holding the only safety net he has known – his dreams.

Filled with lyrical longing and humour, Slow Boat captures perfectly the urge to get away and the necessity of finding yourself in a world which might never even be looking for you.