I was to meet someone in the Japantown district of San Francisco. I had arrived almost 45 minutes in advance of my appointment and so while the time away I was browsing the book store in the Japan Center when the cover of Seven Japanese Tales by Junchiro Tanizaki caught my eye. I had the time to read one of the shorter stories (I think maybe The Tattooer) and was hooked, buying that book right then (this is long before ebooks existed) and eventually everything ever written by Tanizaki.