num_pages: 177
description: Diary of a Mad Old Man is the journal of Utsugi, a seventy-seven-year-old man of refined tastes who is recovering from a stroke. He discovers that, while his body is decaying, his libido still rages on -- unwittingly sparked by the gentle, kindly attentions of his daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, flashy dancer with a shady past. Pitiful and ridiculous as he is, Utsugi is without a trace of self-pity, and his diary shines with self-effacing good humor. At once hilarious and of a sadness, Diary of a Mad Old Man is a brilliant depiction of the relationship between eros and the will to live -- a novel of the tragicomedy of human existence.Translated from the Japanese by Howard Hibbett
language: English
title: Diary of a Mad Old Man
titlecomplete: Diary of a Mad Old Man
genres: Japan, 20th Century, Literature, Novels, Asian Literature, Asia, Romance, Classics, Japanese Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 3282
places: Japan
publisher: Perigee Trade