Money talks ¡ª but it doesn¡¯t always enunciate. For a gang of enterprising upstarts in ¡°Sisters in Yellow,¡± uninitiated to its phonology, it becomes loud and incomprehensible.

¡°Sisters in Yellow¡± is a high-energy, pulpy new novel by Mieko Kawakami, the meticulous social observer of contemporary womanhood who gave us ¡°Breasts and Eggs¡± and ¡°All the Lovers in the Night.¡± In this novel, she brings to life a group of young hustlers who might, in another universe, feel at home slamming back shots with Hollywood¡¯s young white stockbrokers or wide-lapeled, hair-slicked mobsters.

Sisters in Yellow, by Mieko Kawakami. Translated by Laurel Taylor and Hitomi Yoshio. 448 pages. KNOPF, fiction.