No Longer Human

No Longer Human (Japanese: 人間失格, Hepburn: Ningen Shikkaku), also translated as A Shameful Life, is a 1948 novel by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. It tells the story of a troubled man incapable of revealing his true self to others, and who, instead, maintains a façade of hollow jocularity, later turning to a life of alcoholism and drug abuse before his final disappearance. The original title translates as "Disqualified as a human being" or "A failed human". The book was published one month after Dazai's suicide at the age of 38. No Longer Human is considered a classic of postwar Japanese literature and Dazai's masterpiece. It enjoys considerable popularity among younger readers and ranks as the second best-selling novel by publishing house Shinchōsha, behind Sōseki Natsume's Kokoro.