My life has been filled with shame. The protagonist of Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human describes a seemingly normal life while feeling incapable of understanding people. His efforts to reconcile with the world around him start from his childhood, continue through his adolescence where he becomes a "clown" to hide his alienation, and end in a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without emotion, he records the everyday cruelties of life and fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness. Yet another of the ten best-selling books in Japan, No Longer Human is an important and unforgettable modern classic: "The struggle of the individual to adapt to a normalized society remains as relevant today as it was at the time of its writing." (The Japan Times)