| I'd say the Wind Up Bird Chronicles is a lot closer to the Hard Boiled Wonderland. 1Q84, while it has an excellent rendition of a cult member, is a simpler story, and has a tendency to repeat itself quite a bit. I don't know if this was because it was originally printed as two books or not, that might just be a UK thing. The Wind up Bird Chronicles starts on this relatively intriguing but normal sounding premise (a mans wife doesn't come home one day, and he finds a receipt for a dry cleaners in her pocket) and then just starts to go nuts, but with each fantastical step being laid on in a coherent enough fashion to take you along with it. Of course, all of this is just opinion. I'd also recommend his book of short stories - I think it's "The Elephant Vanishes". They are some with really excellent premises. In terms of other authors, maybe try Borge and A Universal History of Infamy. I think it has a similar level of fantastical whimsy and excellent language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Universal_History_of_Infamy |