Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness

The title piece in this collection reveals its importance to Oe’s identity as a writer. "Prize Stock", winner of the Akutagawa Prize, is about the relationship between a Japanese flier and captured black American flier during World War II. "Aghwee the Sky Monster" is about a young man’s first job. "The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away" is an unsparing parody of Yukio Mishima’s terrorism and suicide.