From the National Book Award-winning author of Europe Central, a
charming, evocative and piercing examination of an ancient Japanese
tradition and the keys it holds to our modern understanding of
beauty
What is a woman? To what extent is femininity a performance?
Writing with the extra-ordinary awareness and endless curiosity
that have defined his entire oeuvre, William T. Vollmann takes an
in-depth look at the Japanese craft of Noh theater, using the
medium as a prism to reveal the conception of beauty itself.
Sweeping readers from the dressing room of one of Japan's most
famous Noh actors to a trans-vestite bar in the red-light district
of Kabukicho, Kissing the Mask explores the enigma surrounding Noh
theater and the traditions that have made it intrinsic to Japanese
culture for centuries. Vollmann then widens his scope to encompass
such modern artists of desire and loss as Mishima, Kawabata and
Andrew Wyeth. From old Norse poetry to Greek cult statues, from
elite geisha dancers to American makeup artists, from Serbia to
India, Vollmann uncovers secrets of staged femininity and mysteries
of perceived and expressed beauty, including specific makeup
procedures furnished by an L.A. transgender bar girl, a Kabuki
female impersonator, and the owner of a semi-clandestine studio for
Tokyo cross-dressers.
Kissing the Mask is illustrated with many evocative sketches and
photographs by the author.
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