Scorpions

A shocking and transgressive work from one of the key figures of postwar Japanese fiction Yumiko Kurahashi's 1963 novella Scorpions takes the form of a transcript of a one-sided interview with L following the arrest and institutionalization of her twin brother K. The two have played a role in a series of horrifying deaths culminating in the murder of their mother. Through a first-person narrative that varies in tone from scientifically clinical to darkly humorous, mingling together references to the Bible and Greek mythology, odd bits of dialogue and obtuse descriptions, we learn of K and L's shocking crimes as well as the professional and personal entanglement of L and an older man they call the Red Pig, their mother's former lover. Scorpions remains, after more than half a century, a shockingly transgressive text. It bears allegiance to the most radical French fiction of its time, particularly the work of Jean Genet, an author Kurahashi admired, whose own novels explored the sanctification of criminal behavior. Yumiko Kurahashi (1935-2005) was an influential Japanese writer of experimental fiction. She was nominated early in her career for the Akutagawa prize and later won the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature for her anti-utopian work Journey to Amanon .

A shocking and transgressive work from one of the key figures of postwar Japanese fiction Yumiko Kurahashi's 1963 novella Scorpions takes the form of a transcript of a one-sided interview with L following the arrest and institutionalization of her twin brother K. The two have played a role in a series of horrifying deaths culminating in the murder of their mother. Through a first-person narrative that varies in tone from scientifically clinical to darkly humorous, mingling together references to the Bible and Greek mythology, odd bits of dialogue and obtuse descriptions, we learn of K and L's shocking crimes as well as the professional and personal entanglement of L and an older man they call the Red Pig, their mother's former lover. Scorpions remains, after more than half a century, a shockingly transgressive text. It bears allegiance to the most radical French fiction of its time, particularly the work of Jean Genet, an author Kurahashi admired, whose own novels explored the sanctification of criminal behavior. Yumiko Kurahashi (1935-2005) was an influential Japanese writer of experimental fiction. She was nominated early in her career for the Akutagawa prize and later won the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature for her anti-utopian work Journey to Amanon .

Unprecedented in its global impact, the Great Depression sounded the death knell of unfettered capitalism. Four men - all from wildly different backgrounds, all with decidedly disparate temperments and all equally devoted to FDR - were the primary authors of what would essentially be America's new Constitution. Scorpions is the story of their personalities, their relationships and above all their ideas in the crucial years of depression and war - years in which these men created the national game plan that would save the country by rebuilding the economy and defeating the Nazis and the Soviets in turn. It is also the story of how these men - Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Robert Jackson and William O. Douglas (a Jew, a Klansman, a Yankee, and a Westerner) - advised, cajoled, used and were used by the man who brought them together and whom they all revered: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

'A skilful, poetic and bleakly funny account of coping with a lifelong condition' - THE GUARDIAN 'Absolutely extraordinary writing.' - JAMES O'BRIEN 'So fantastic' - CHRIS EVANS 'Candid and compelling. A must-read.' - BRYONY GORDON 'Brilliantly readable.' - PATRICK MCGRATH My mind is full of scorpions. A cerebral itch, impossible to scratch. I know these creatures well, but they know me better. They answer to another name, this nest of scorpions, the writhing black mass that lives inside my head... For as long as Tuppence Middleton can remember, she has struggled with obsessive thoughts and compulsions. She visualises her OCD as scorpions inhabiting her mind, something to be hidden that impacts her life daily: Have I killed my cat?When was the last time that person in front of me vomited?How many people have touched this door handle since it was cleaned?Should I tap the outside of the airplane to save my loved ones from harm? Often used as a shorthand for tidiness or as the punchline of a joke, OCD is one of society's most misunderstood disorders and it's rarely spoken about with such honesty and openness. In this beautifully written, moving and often darkly funny memoir, Tuppence recounts what it feels like to share your mind with a nest of scorpions. 'A fantastic memoir . . . Scorpions is intensely personal, yet somehow manages to be universal' - JOHN ROBINS 'There isn't a page that won't leave you with greater understanding and empathy' - JANET ELLIS 'Brilliantly immersive, funny, and brave' - LISA OWENS

'A skilful, poetic and bleakly funny account of coping with a lifelong condition' - THE GUARDIAN 'Absolutely extraordinary writing.' - JAMES O'BRIEN 'So fantastic' - CHRIS EVANS 'Candid and compelling. A must-read.' - BRYONY GORDON 'Brilliantly readable.' - PATRICK MCGRATH My mind is full of scorpions. A cerebral itch, impossible to scratch. I know these creatures well, but they know me better. They answer to another name, this nest of scorpions, the writhing black mass that lives inside my head... For as long as Tuppence Middleton can remember, she has struggled with obsessive thoughts and compulsions. She visualises her OCD as scorpions inhabiting her mind, something to be hidden that impacts her life daily: Have I killed my cat?When was the last time that person in front of me vomited?How many people have touched this door handle since it was cleaned?Should I tap the outside of the airplane to save my loved ones from harm? Often used as a shorthand for tidiness or as the punchline of a joke, OCD is one of society's most misunderstood disorders and it's rarely spoken about with such honesty and openness. In this beautifully written, moving and often darkly funny memoir, Tuppence recounts what it feels like to share your mind with a nest of scorpions. 'A fantastic memoir . . . Scorpions is intensely personal, yet somehow manages to be universal' - JOHN ROBINS 'There isn't a page that won't leave you with greater understanding and empathy' - JANET ELLIS 'Brilliantly immersive, funny, and brave' - LISA OWENS