Life for sale is a Japanese novel written by Yukio Mishima, published in 1968. The story follows Hanio, who at the beginning of the novel attempts to kill himself for no reason. After his attempt fails, he has nothing left to fear and feels that life is now meaningless. For this reason, he puts an ad in the newspaper announcing his life is for sale. He will do any job or task that is asked of him for any price, including death. The rest of the novel follows him and the strange adventures he embarks on after being hired by various abnormal people.
“He was a man who had already died once. There was no reason why he should feel any sense of responsibility or attachment to the world. To him, it was nothing more than a sheet of newspaper covered in the scribblings of cockroaches.” (p. 33 )
I chose this quote because the author repeats similar sentiments throughout the book, and each sentiment sums up Hanio as a person, as well as give us the reason for his irrational, life threatening decisions.