Description: This fascinating collection features several stories by a master storyteller about Japan's cultural upheaval, including the classic "Rashomon, " the disturbing tale of a murder told from different perspectives.
Brief description: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) was one of the most famous Japanese writers of the last century and was the author of Rashomon and other works. The Akutagawa Prize is named in his honor.
Review Quotes: Because I was a Japanese major in college, a very nice edition of a translation of Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa had been left for me at my bedside, to read while I was there and to take with me when I left. Thoughtful, I thought. And fitting. Even more fitting, that friend and I no longer speak, and I am sure we have very different versions as to why that is.--David Rakoff "The New York Times Book Review"