The Tattoo and Other Stories

"Tanizaki writes with an unabashed sensuality. Even his lighter-hearted fictions…make us hold our breath, and the endings don't let us quite exhale." —John Updike in The New Yorker "Tanizaki's literature is, above all, delicious, like French or Chinese cuisine." —Yukio Mishima "For the sheer entertainment value of a good story well told, none can match Tanizaki." —The Globe and Mail This dazzling collection of short fiction by literary master Junichiro Tanizaki features three stories that appear here in English for the first time, plus fresh translations of his best-known classics. The writings span his career and include harrowing depictions of the Great Kanto Earthquake, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and the black-market economy that sprang up after the war. Included in this volume are: The Tattoo: A sadomasochistic tattoo artist inscribes a spider on the object of his obsession, awakening her own sadistic impulses From the Life of Shunkin: A beautiful blind musician is mysteriously attacked, and her lover commits an unthinkable act An Account of Cruelty: A couple struggles with the intimate aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima Plus five other iconic Tanizaki tales Award-winning translators Anthony Chambers, Paul McCarthy and J. Keith Vincent bring their consummate skill and knowledge of Tanizaki to the volume. Together, the stories reflect the author's lifelong fascination with the darkest passions of humankind and the full range of possibility in the Japanese language.