07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Osamu Dazai's bleak prose was matched only by his own misery
Writing is a famously miserable profession, but Osamu Dazai stands out as one of the most despondent writers ever to live. That strain is everywhere in evidence in his work, but it is on special display in 'No One Knows,' a collection of 14 short stories written in the first person, newly translated from Japanese by Ralph McCarthy. The protagonists of the stories, six of which have been translated for the first time here, are all women who usually describe themselves as wretched and are either on the verge of tears or already weeping.
