That man is a precision illustrator named Tony Takitani.
In one story in this collection, a man who has run away to Greece with his lover reads her a newspaper article about an old woman whose corpse was eaten by her cats; that story ends with the narrator imagining three cats drinking his brains "like Macbeth's witches." Aspiring prizewinners have to seek the approval of monstrous birds for their new recipe for the titular confection in another story in this collection, "The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes." "The Ice Man" and "Crabs" are featured in this collection, along with another short work that sees a man hire an assistant who fits his dead wife's physical description so that he can give away his wife's designer clothes. That man is a precision illustrator named Tony Takitani. The title story of this collection sees a man reminisce about visitng his friend's girlfriend in the hospital and about the titular poem she wrote about a tree with soporific pollen. For 10 points, name this collection of short stories by Haruki Murakami.
In one story in this collection, a man who has run away to Greece with his lover reads her a newspaper article about an old woman whose corpse was eaten by her cats; that story ends with the narrator imagining three cats drinking his brains "like Macbeth's witches."
{Blind Willow}, {Sleeping} Woman