Five Modern Japanese Novelists

Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the definitive multivolume history of Japanese literature, and, most recently, Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912. He divides his time between Tokyo and New York City.

• Tanizaki Jun'ichiro (1886-1965) Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972) Mishima Yukio (1925-1970) Abe Kobo (1924-1993) Shiba Ryotaro (1923-1996) Supplemental Readings

[Keene] draws on his personal experience and deep knowledge of Japanese literature to paint biographical sketches which he illuminates with quotations from English translations of their representative novels and with a critical analysis of their writings. -- Hugh Cortazzi The Japan Society This book is [Keene's] latest accomplishment that... tells about [his] participation in the cultural life of modern Japan as well as the story of the five modern Japanese novelists. And thatis what makes this book most appealing to general readers and experts alike. -- Guohe Zheng Journal of Asian Studies Charming, personal, humorous... recommended. Library Journal Keene ably speculates on Mishima's spectacular suicide, makes a full-dress biography of the contrarian Abe seem absolutely necessary, and suggests how to increase American appreciation of Shiba. Booklist