ACTS OF WORSHIP: SEVEN STORIES. Translated by John Bester

New York: Kodanasha International, no date. Publisher's typescript of this book of stories, a substantially complete typescript (lacking only pp. 16-79 from the story "Sword") on plain white paper, in unbound sheets. , 285 leaves, each story paginated separately. A fine set of these sheets, which represent one of the earliest stages of publication and thus one of the earliest forms of the final printed book. This collection of stories was first published in 1989. As a publisher’s typescript this is certainly a rare find as well as a fascinating glimpse into the publishing process.
During his lifetime, Yukio Mishima was nominated for the Nobel Prize three times and had seen almost all of his major novels appear in English. While the flamboyance of his life and the apparent fanaticism of his death have dominated the public's perception of his achievement, Japanese and Western critics alike are in agreement that his literary gifts were prodigious.
Mishima is arguably at his best in the shorter forms, and it is the flower of these that appeared here for the first time in English. Each story has its own distinctive atmosphere and each is brilliantly organized, yielding deeper layers of meaning with repeated readings. The psychological observation, particularly in what it reveals of the turmoil of adolescence, is meticulous.