The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Seatells the tale of a band of savage 13-year-old boys who reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical & sentimental, & train themselves in a brutal callousness they call"objectivity."When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he & his friends idealize the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft & romantic. They regard their disappointment in him as an act of betrayal on his part, & react violently.A novel from “one of the outstanding writers of the world” (New York Times) that explores the vicious nature of youth that is sometimes mistaken for innocence. • “A major work of art.” — Time13-year-oldNoboruis a member of a gang of highly philosophical teenage boys who reject the tenets of the adult world — to them, adult life is illusory, hypocritical, & sentimental. WhenNoboru’swidowed mother is romanced byRyuji, a sailor,Noboruis thrilled. He idolizes this rugged man of the sea as a hero. But his admiration soon turns to hatred, asRyujiforsakes life onboard the ship for marriage, rejecting everythingNoboruholds sacred. Upset & appalled, he & his friends respond to this apparent betrayal with a terrible ferocity.°°°Yukio Mishimawas born inTokyoin1925. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University’s School of Jurisprudence in 1947. His first published book,The Forest in Full Bloom, appeared in1944, & he established himself as a major author withConfessions of a Mask(1949). From then until his death, he continued to publish novels, short stories, & plays each year. His crowning achievement,The Sea of Fertilitytetralogy—which contains the novelsSpring Snow(1969),Runaway Horses(1969),The Temple of Dawn(1970), &The Decay of the Angel(1971)—is considered one of the definitive works of twentieth-centuryJapanesefiction. In1970, at the age of forty-five & the day after completing the