Henry Scott-Stokes – The Life And Death Of Yukio Mishima

“Novelist, playwright, film actor, martial artist, and political commentator, Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) was arguably the most famous person in Japan at the time of his death. Henry Scott Stokes, one of Mishima’s closest friends, was the only non-Japanese allowed to attend the trial of the men involved in Mishima’s spectacular suicide. In this insightful and empathetic look at the writer, Stokes guides the reader through the milestones of Mishima’s meteoric and eclectic career and delves into the artist’s major works and themes. This biography skillfully and compassionately illuminates the achievements and disquieting ideas of a brilliant and deeply troubled man, an artist of whom Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata had said, “A writer of Mishima’s caliber comes along only once every two or three hundred years.”

FSG. 1974 Hardcover edition, first printing. Some wear & staining apparent to dustjacket under protective wrap. Upper edge of pages gilded black. Crack in spine at page 150. Pages sagging from spine lightly. Sticker on dustjacket.