Read Real Japanese Essays / Short Stories - Brief Synopses o

[Miaow]

Konbanwa,
I'm interested in the books "Read Real Japanese: Essays" and its companion "Stories" volume. If anyone had read either one, could you please post a brief synopsis (like 1-2 sentences) of each essay/story? At this point I can just purchase one book, and I like to have some idea what a book is about before purchasing.

Thanks in advance!

[Miaow]

I did actually go ahead and splurge and I bought both volumes, so hopefully I'll be able to answer my own questions!

[The Lady Ashuko]

I look forward to hearing about them! I've been wanting to get the short stories one for a while (as Otsuichi is a favorite author of mine) but I've been spending all my book monies at Book-Off D I wasn't really interested in the essays one, but my textbook has each chapter centering around an essay and it's been really interesting so I may reconsider.