Vain young men have scorned the “meaninglessness” of everyday life and set off to have superhero adventures since literature began. For just as long they have found out that the “free and empty” world they seek is such a scary place that the “daily grind” they so despised has something to be said for it.
On one level there’s nothing remarkable about the trajectory of Hanio Yamada, the protagonist of this cartoonish entertainment by Yukio Mishima, first published in 1968 as a serial for Japanese Playboy. Gripped by ennui, Hanio, a cocky copywriter in brash modern Tokyo, puts his life up for sale.
Two years later the author of Life for Sale swapped manga-style fantasy for gorily absurd reality. He committed ritual suicide after
