Tales grotesque and curious

About the book

Glenn W. Shaw's translation gathers eleven stories that move among historical settings, supernatural invention, and encounters revealing unexpected aspects of character. 'The Nose' turns a conspicuous physical feature into a study of vanity and social response; 'Rashōmon' places moral judgment under the pressure of desperate circumstances; 'The Spider's Thread' gives a fablelike situation a sharp ethical edge. Other selections include 'Tobacco and the Devil,' 'The Handkerchief,' 'The Ball,' and 'Mōri Sensei.' The collection repeatedly invites a judgment and then complicates the position from which it was made. Irony, grotesque detail, and abrupt shifts in perspective give these compact narratives their force, while their varied forms prevent the title's promise of strangeness from becoming a single repeated effect.

• Moral self-interest
• Vanity and perception
• Irony

Why read it

Read it for concise stories whose unsettling turns reveal the fragility of apparently confident judgments.

English translation by Glenn W. Shaw; eleven-story collection