One Hot Summer in Kyoto

Peter Meadowes, the ``hero'' of Haylock's ( A Touch of the Orient ) polished new novel, is an egocentric, bigoted control freak who reads the Marquis de Sade and abuses women mentally and emotionally. An English professor living in Japan, he ships his wife and child back to England for the summer while he flees Tokyo for the ancient capital of Kyoto, supposedly to work on his book about a T'ang poet. But his real objective is to get away from Noriko, his possessive Japanese mistress. The informal caretaker of the house Meadowes rents is Kazumi, a beautiful young Japanese woman. Immediately attracted, he is determined to possess her. His supposedly relaxing summer becomes even more complicated with the unexpected arrival of Miss Goto, a former student whom Meadowes likewise uses then casts off, then of Noriko and, finally, of his wife. This delightful satire derives much of its humor and irony from the fact that this boor, who has only occasional flashes of self-insight, is telling his own story: the more he talks, the stronger the case against him becomes. (Aug.)