Life of an Amorous Man — Ihara Saikaku

First published in 1682, The Life of an Amorous Man depicts the pursuits and follies of the most glorious age of Japan, when wealthy commoners could rise above the warrior caste and indulge in the free and easy life of Japan's pleasure houses. The hero, Yonosuke, whose name means "Man of the World," is followed from his precocious childhood to the close of his amatory career. His erotic escapades are chronicled, always with frankness and often with pathos. The character sketches of the women (and sometimes men) with whom he dallied are vividly portrayed.