The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi and Arrowroot

"The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi and Arrowroot reflect Tanizaki's preoccupation with man's sexual and psychological nature. Both novellas stem, in the fashion of Stendhal, from a purported historical investigation. The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi is the bizarre, outrageous, and maliciously comic tale of a sixteenth-century warrior lord's fixations; Arrowroot describes one man's search for truth and legend in a small Japanese village. Written in lyrical prose, yet with a firm sense of humor and the absurd, these two powerful novellas illustrate why Tanizaki is esteemed by many as Japan's greatest modern writer."--Back cover.