The Essential Akutagawa

"Akutagawa displays an insightful and keenly creative intelligence in prose so lucid its sophistication is hardly visible." -Chris Power, The Guardian

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is known as "the Father of the Japanese short story" -he wrote 150 stories during his brief career and is widely acclaimed as Japan's master storyteller. This new anthology contains the most complete collection of Akutagawa stories ever published in English, including new translations of well-known classics as well as many lesser-known and never-before-translated works:

Rashomon: An unemployed servant in old Kyoto has to choose whether to starve or become a thief to survive An Odd Tale: Encounters with a mysterious station porter prey on a young woman's nerves while her husband is away fighting in World War I The Shadow: A merchant receives anonymous letters warning that his wife is having an affair, but encounters his own doppelganger when he seeks to investigate In a Grove:Recounting a samurai's violent death-the inspiration for the famous Kurosawa film, Rashomon Hell Screen: Akutagawa's reworking of an ancient tale, examining the gruesome consequences of one man's artistic obsession Momotaro: In this never-before-translated story, Akutagawa converts a classic fairy tale into a damning satire of militarism and war Plus 16 other major works by the Japanese master!

This is an absolute "must-have" volume for every serious fan of Japanese literature!