Asylum Piece is a short story collection by Anna Kavan, and the first published under her pen name "Anna Kavan" instead of her married name, Helen Ferguson. Kavan sold three stories from the collection to Harper's Bazaar before the book was published. The collection of stories draws from Kavan's life and experiences in mental institutions, and uses figurative language to describe how different characters experience madness, abjection, and despair.
Anaïs Nin praised the book in her 1968 manifesto, The Novel of the Future, writing that:
Nin also praised the book's ability to "[enter] the world of the divided self," along with Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf and I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch.
List of stories Story list is taken from the 1981 reprint by Peter Owen. The Birthmark Going Up in the World The Enemy A Changed Situation The Birds Airing a Grievance Just Another Failure The Summons At Night An Unpleasant Reminder Machines in the Head Asylum Piece I Asylum Piece II Asylum Piece III Asylum Piece IV Asylum Piece V Asylum Piece VI Asylum Piece VII Asylum Piece VIII The End in Sight There Is No End
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