For the first time in English, a glittering novella about stardom from “one of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century” (Judith Thurman,The New Yorker)Winner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese LiteratureAll eyes are upon Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer from a roped-off section, screaming & yelling to attract his attention. They would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells "action"; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being, a hardened youngyakuza, but as soon as the shot is finished, he slumps back into his own anxieties & obsessions.Written shortly afterYukio Mishimahimself had acted in the filmAfraid to Die, this novella is a rich & unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams as the absurdity of his existence comes sharply into focus. With exquisite, vivid prose,Starbegs the question: is there ever any escape from how we are seen by others?°°°Yukio Mishimia (1925–1970)was many people. The best known in Japan of the writers to emerge there after WWII, he was by far the most published abroad. Mishima completed his first novel the year he entered the U. of Tokyo. More followed (some 23, the last completed the day of his death on Nov. 25, 1970), along with more than 40 plays, over ninety short stories, several poetry & travel volumes, hundreds of essays, & one film (Patriotism). Influenced by European literarture, in which he was exceptionally well read, he was an interpreter to his own people of Japan’s ancient virtues, to which he urged a return. He was a strict disciplinarian & undertook a rigid bodybuilding & martial arts regime. He seemed at the height of his career & vitality at the age of 45, when after a demonstration in the public interest he commited suicide by ceremonial seppuku.