Subuyan is a simple man who also happens to be a frantically busy, not quite successful pornographer of Osaka. He tries to keep his clients happy, and he does his best to alleviate the sorrows of mankind, at least insofar as they afflict the wealthy men and large corporations who are his clients. This humane approach to life is not always appreciated by his chief cameraman, Banteki, who is a firm believer in Art for Art's Sake. With ironic humor and sharp compassion, The Pornographers follows its oddly endearing hero through a succession of tragicomic encounters and numerous physical and moral dilemmas. Whether dealing with the rich and sometimes treacherous clients to whom he purveys a bewilder-ing diversity of artifacts and entertainments; with the synthetic school-girls he recruits from among the thirteen worldly Veteran Virgins ofOsaka; with infuriating technical problems; or with idiot actors inca-pable of following the simplest *, Subuyan maintains a cheerful view of humanity that prevails against all frustrations. Nosaka's truly original novel is rich in comic invention and absolutely unflinching in its accep-tance of life.