The Ruined Map

( Japanese - Moetsukita chizu ( 燃えつきた地図 ) - 1967 )

novel by Kobo Abe

translated by E.Dale Saunders

Published: Knopf - hardback - 1969 ( 1st US )
ISNB: 0394443497 / 9780394443492

Vintage Books - paperback - 1969
ISBN: none

Jonathan Cape - hardback - 1972 ( 1st UK )
ISBN: 0224005650 / 9780224005654

Perigee Books - paperback - 1981
ISBN: 0399504702 / 9780399504709

Kodansha International Ltd - paperback - 1995
ISBN: 4770016352 / 9784770016355

Vintage Books USA - paperback - 2001
ISBN: 0375726527 / 9780375726521


Synopsis
Mr. Nemuro, a respected salesman, disappeared over half a year ago, but only now does his alluring yet alcoholic wife hire a private eye. The nameless detective has but two clues: a photo and a matchbook. With these he embarks upon an ever more puzzling pursuit that leads him into the depths of Tokyo's dangerous underworld, where he begins to lose the boundaries of his own identity.

Film
1968, directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.