"Sedori Danshaku Suukitan" by Kajiyama Toshiyuki. Series of short stories about people who took extreme measures to collecting old books. First surprise of this book is immediately visible at the table of contents, where all chapters are named after mahjong winning patterns. Still, all stories turned out to fit their titles very well. It was very clever.
Next surprise is the stories themselves: Every story depicts some character who has crossed the line, giving up varying amount of sanity in exchange for precious books. This book starts with a fairly normal person who became a compulsive collector, and ends with a story of probably the most perverse and sadistic book designers imaginable. It's one shock after another, each story more intense than the last.
A bizarre but interesting book, definitely worth reading for people who can handle a bit of graphic content.
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