William T. Vollmann 
Kissing the Mask [EPUB ebook] 
Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater, with Some Thoughts on Muses (Especially Helga Testorf), Transgender Women, Kabuki Goddesses, Porn Queens, Poets, Housewives, Makeup Artists, Geishas, Valkyries and Venus Figurines

Intrepid journalist and novelist William T. Vollmans colossal body of work stands unsurpassed for its range, moral imperative, and artistry.Booklist William T. Vollmann, the National Book Awardwinning author of Europe Central, offers a charming, evocative, and piercing examination of the ancient Japanese tradition of Noh theatre and the keys it holds to our modern understanding of beauty. Kissing the Mask is the first major book on Noh by an American writer since the 1916 publication the classic study Pisan Cantos and the Noh by Ezra Pound. But Kissing the Mask is pure Vollmanillustrated with photos by the author with provocative related side-discussions on femininity, transgender, kabuki, pornography, geishas, and more.