Ryuosuke Akutagawa was one of Japan's great writers. He lived through Japan's turbulent Taisho period, including the devastating 1923 earthquake, only to take his own life at the age of just thirty-five in 1927. Inpsired by Akutagawa's stories, essays and letters, David Peace has fashioned an extrao...

Ryuosuke Akutagawa was one of Japan's great writers. He lived through Japan's turbulent Taisho period, including the devastating 1923 earthquake, only to take his own life at the age of just thirty-five in 1927. Inpsired by Akutagawa's stories, essays and letters, David Peace has fashioned an extraordinary novel of tales.