Balzac in His Nightclothes and Other Stories

A clay head on a London restaurant table opens a tale of love, performance, and the strange power of sculpture. In Yoshiyuki Eisuke’s account of Hanako and Rodin, art and desire reshape memory; elsewhere, waterfront jazz, colonial travel, and revolutionary slogans turn ordinary scenes into startling collages.

This collection contains four complete works: “The Sporting Prostitute,” “Balzac in His Nightclothes,” “Bombay Episodes,” and “Love by the Glass.” Sailors and dancers fill Yokohama’s bars, a traveling performer recounts her turbulent past, a businessman meets Ada in Bombay, and a restless narrator carries his love affairs into Russia. Bodies become landscapes, cities become theaters, and political language collides with private longing.

First published between 1927 and 1930, these stories show the abrasive energy of Japanese modernist writing. Yoshiyuki Eisuke favors sharp transitions, extravagant metaphors, and troubling voices over reassuring explanations. This English collection preserves the supplied texts in full, including their fragmented passages and unfilled censorship gaps, with notes on foreign names, historical discrepancies, and uncertain references.