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Consumerism, yay? [T-shirt proliferation is a big fashion waste problem.] Though to be fair, sounds like a lot were bought second hand, gifted, resulted from participating in events. 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.
Pink shirt with row of ukeleles from Hawaii, and green winged octopus were my faves.

This replaced Green Mansions as my bedside book these past few months. I found myself picking it up when I felt particularly low or stressed. It‘s good for lifting your mood. Murakami talks about his extensive t-shirt collection in a laidback, humorous way and the result is a tender compilation that spans records, whiskey, a Goodwill store in Hawaii, & much more, including the pleasure of good design, even when the meaning is unknown.

Such a fun little book with compiled articles Murakami wrote about his extensive t-shirt collection. Makes me examine the rules of my own t-shirts. What do I buy, keep, wear and cherish? I love everything he writes!

For those who are interested, here are some of Haruki Murakami‘s t-shirts featured in the tagged book. His most treasured one is the yellow ‘Toni Takitani‘ shirt. He bought it in a thrift shop in Maui and asked himself “What kind of a person could Toni Takitani be?” And he ended up writing a short story with Toni as the protagonist, which later was made into a film.

Murakami has a massive collection of t-shirts- from marathons he has run, publishers, thrift stores. But he doesn‘t wear a lot of them, they just ‘accidentally‘ piled up. In these essays he shares with us how he came to own them, the memories behind them. These were first featured in a fashion magazine, the narrative style seems casual and random. It‘s a quick listen during one of my walks, entertaining enough, and great for Murakami fans.

A number of years ago I stumbled upon the book Worn Stories by Emily Spivack, and ever since I‘ve been drawn to stories about our sartorial choices say about us. So when I heard about this Murakami book about T-shirts, I knew I had to read it. Not brilliant or particularly awe inspiring, but tshirts are kind of everyday ho-hum, and Murakami‘s essays remind me of how our daily choices reflect the stories of our lives.