**The Nobel Prize–winning “master of the bizarre plunges the reader into a world of tortured imagination” in this four-novella collection ( *Library Journal* ).** In this startling quartet of his most provocative stories, the multiple prize-winning author of *A Personal Matter* reaffirms his reputation as “a supremely gifted writer” ( *The Washington Post* ). In *The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away* , a self-absorbed narrator on his deathbed drifts off to the comforting strains of a cantata as he recalls a blistering childhood of militarism, sacrifice, humiliation, and revenge—a tale that is questioned by everyone who knew him. In *Prize Stock* , winner of the Akutagawa Prize, a black American pilot is downed in a Japanese village during World War II, where the local children see him as some rare find—exotic and forbidden. In *Aghwee The Sky Monster* , the floating ghost of a baby inexplicably haunts a young man on the first day of his first job. And in the title story, a devoted father believes he is the only link between his mentally challenged son and reality. “[A] remarkable book.” — *The Washington Post* “Ōe is definitely one of the Modern Masters.” —Seattlepi.com