Spring Miscellany is a series of twenty-five personal vignettes (referred to as shohin -- "little items") that are clearly autobiographical, and reveal Natsume Soseki's kaleidoscopic view of his private world -- and his interest in authentic, unadorned self-expression. The stories range from episodes in his youth to his adult musings. Of special interest are the accounts of his stay in England from 1900 to 1902, where he attended University College, studied privately with W.J. Craig, editor of the Arden Shakespeare, and studied eighteenth-century literature. It was not a happy time for Soseki; he said that during this time he was "like a poor dog that had wandered into the company of wolves." However, he managed to turn adversity into raw material for his art, and provides us with provides a fresh perspective on the life of an expatriate Japanese scholar at the turn of the century.