Book excerpt: There is a world of difference between reading Japanese that has been specially concocted for students and reading real Japanese - that is, Japanese written for native speakers. The concocted variety is standard to the point of insipidity, controlled to the point of domestication, restricted to the point of impoverishment. The Read Real Japanese series, comprising one volume each of Essays and Fiction, provides the real thing - lively writings by contemporary authors. Long awaited by teachers and students, Read Real Japanese Fiction presents short works by seven cutting-edge writers. The spellbinding world of Hiromi Kawakai; the hair-raising short horror of Otsuichi; the haunting, poignant prose of Banana Yoshimoto; even the poetic word-play of Yoko Tawada - whatever the personal taste, readers are sure to find something of interest and value in this book, suitable for students at intermediate level and above. Like in real Japanese novels, the text on each page runs from top to bottom and from right to left. Need support? No worries. Each double-page spread features phrase-level translations, often with notes on nuance, usage, grammar or culture. In the back of the book, moreover, there is a built-in Japanese-English learner's dictionary, in case the reader wants to acquaint themselves with the meanings of individual words. Best of all, the book comes with a free audio CD containing narrations of the stories, performed by professional voice actors. This will help students get used to not only the sounds and rhythms of Japanese, but also the speed at which the language is normally spoken.