The Real Osamu Dazai

"Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." --Andrew Martin, The New York Times "... translator O'Brien excels, his unembellished use of language allowing the comically dry but fraught moments of Dazai's prose to flourish." --Asian Review of Books Best-known for his novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, Dazai was also an acclaimed writer of short stories, experimenting with a wide variety of styles and bringing to each work a sophisticated sense of humor, a broad empathy for the human condition and a tremendous literary talent. The twenty stories in this collection include: Memories -- An autobiographical tale in which Dazai relates episodes from his own childhood and adolescence, showing his relationship with his family and his tendency towards introspection and self-dramatizationOn the Question of Apparel -- A comic tour-de-force in which Dazai examines the hold that fashion has over him and how it relates to his own pathetic self-imageA Poor Man's Got His Pride -- A retelling of a story by 18th-century master of burlesque fiction Ihara Saikaku, about a fallen samurai who lives in povertyThe Sound of Hammering -- A love story set against the backdrop of the rebuilding of Tokyo after the city was totally destroyed during World War TwoAnd sixteen other stories!>**Recommended for readers 16 years & up. Not intended for high school classroom use due to adult content.**