RAIN IN THE WIND by Saiichi...

RAIN IN THE WIND by Saiichi Maruya, translated from the Japanese by Dennis Keene (Kodansha: $8). This collection of odd, sardonic short stories offers American readers an introduction to a quirky but highly respected contemporary Japanese author. In “I’ll Buy That Dream,” a jaded bar hostess is inspired by a friend to create an elaborate, fictitious account of her past life, only to find herself imprisoned within her lies. The title novella describes the efforts of a bored scholar to link his late father and an unconventional haiku poet at the outbreak of World War II. An elaborate literary exegesis becomes a voyage of discovery, as the scholar uncovers aspects of his father’s character that the older man had scrupulously hidden during his lifetime.