Devils in Daylight [Paperback]

One morning, Takahashi, a writer who has just stayed up all night working, is interrupted by a phone call from his old friend Sonomura: barely able to contain his excitement, Sonomura claims that he has cracked a secret cryptographic code based on Edgar Allan PoesNow in paperback, a suspenseful early novella from the outstanding Japanese novelist of this century (Edmund White). A rumination about the nature of fiction itself. Tanizaki laminates a murder mystery and psychological study onto a rumination about the nature of fiction itself. This captivating short novel exemplifies why Tanizaki is considered an innovator of modern Japanese literature. The prose is cunning and compelling, evoking classic Asian folklore and elements of It is no bad thing to be reminded from time to time that JunichiroTanizakis remarkably fresh and intimate voice is speaking to us across agulf of years and cultures. The outstanding Japanese novelist of this century. An absorbing read...quite likely youll gulp it all down in a single sitting. Tanizaki was a great writer. He understood the fetish-making fecundity of love, and the satisfactions it offers even while giving pain, and its perverse, inverse accountings. Tanizaki is one of my favorites. His books are about love and very often perverse aspects of love.