A dark vision...a beautiful, disturbing novel ? Los Angeles Times

Mishima writes with a fury that seldom flags ? Glasgow Herald

Glitters with images of beauty and destruction, cruelty and sacrifice, dedication and betrayal ? The Times

An amazing literary feat ? Chicago Tribune

I adore Mishima's prose and vivid descriptions. They pull me out of my daily reality -- Amanda Harlech ? Harpers Bazaar

Yukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor ? the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless short stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he acted. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves; Enjo, which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion; and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst For Love and the short-story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship.

The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On November 25th, 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of forty-five.