A review by ksparks
Japanese Tales by Royall Tyler

5.0

I loved this collection. Definitely read the introduction first--it provides much needed context. These tales are great--many are short, only one to two pages. Some are haunting, others disturbing, some are raunchy, and others romantic, quite a few are funny. You'll find emperors, monks, princesses, foxes and snakes, all kinds of demons, warriors and gods. The scholarship that went into this volume is impressive--there are extensive source notes and the tales are really well organized. As others have noted, you may find more literary/romantic versions of stories elsewhere but probably not more authentic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.