◎2002年「這本推理小說了不起！」第五名 ◎2001年「週刊文春推理小說BEST10」第八名 締造史上「五冠王」記錄暢銷書天王 直木獎作家東野圭吾的幽默獻禮！ 日本暢銷書天王東野圭吾生花妙筆，直指文學界各種匪夷所思怪現象。 八篇既諷刺又爆笑的「推理文壇大小牌現形記」！ 面臨報稅危機的推理作家、 煩惱筆下偵探最終該如何收尾的推理作家、 被要求將故事篇幅加巨的推理作家……， 東野圭吾針對日本出版界的現況提出質疑， 令人捧腹大笑的辛辣短篇集。 小說家為何要寫出與故事情節無關，又瑣碎嘮叨的冗長敘述？ 為了騙稿費？不，他們另有所圖…… 轟動推理小說界的驚人詭計，到底是以多麼可笑的方式誕生的？ 作家嘔心瀝血想出來的？不，他們另有秘方…… 令沒沒無聞的新人作家一夕走紅的神奇捷徑是什麼？ 努力寫出好作品？不，他們令有驚人之舉…… 添加大量科學知識的推理小說火紅當熱，讀者看的到底是小說還是百科全書？ 新書大量出版，沒時間看書卻要寫書評的書評家，寫出來的文章到底可不可信？ 東野圭吾更為用心設計的，就是如何將業界的荒謬現象，以誇張的方式來加以突顯，配合上最出人意表的結局，最終成為一篇具有黑色幽默的小說。 一個認識東野圭吾的全新角度！ 當事情到達極點而無法再承受更嚴重的脫軌行為時，。東野圭吾以最惡搞的情況做為結局，荒謬也就因而從極限處出現。－－凌徹（推理小說研究者）

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop the nuclear strike.

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

Every second of every day, from the moment he was born, for the last thirty years, Truman Burbank has been the unwitting star of the longest running, most popular documentary-soap opera in history. The picture-perfect town of Seahaven that he calls home is actually a gigantic soundstage. Truman's friends and family - everyone he meets, in fact - are actors. He lives every moment under the unblinking gaze of thousands of hidden TV cameras.