This January, I discovered that a close friend shared the same birthday with Japanese literary figure Yukio Mishima. I sent him a copy of Frolic of the Beasts as a lark for their shared birthday. Months later, after my return from MacDowell Colony, reeling from numerous deaths from COVID-19 and suicide in my circle, I decided to read some more Mishima, as I enjoyed the tight, cold, smoothness of Frolic of the Beasts. What a dangerous idea.