Description
Book SynopsisOsamu Dazai is one of the most famous--and infamous--writers of 20th-century Japan. A Shameful Life (Ningen shikkaku) is his final published work and has become a bestselling classic for its depiction of the tortured struggle of a young man to survive in a world that he cannot comprehend. Paralleling the life and death of Dazai himself, the delicate weaving of fact and fiction remorselessly documents via journals the life of Yozo, a university student who spends his time in increasing isolation and debauchery. His doomed love affairs, suicide attempts, and constant fear of revealing his true self haunt the pages of the book and reveal a slow descent into madness. This dark tale nevertheless conveys something authentic about the human heart and its inability to find its true bearing.
Trade ReviewWinner of the William F. Sibley Memorial Subvention Award for Japanese Translation "Dazai's reputation has not waned a bit in seventy years. Reading Mark Gibeau's brilliant translation will show you why." --Roger Pulvers, award-winning translator, film director, and author of LIV
