The Gunter Grass Reader Author:Gunter Grass, Helmut Frielinghaus (Editor) Selected from the vast range of his work, the writings included in this anthology trace Gunter Grass's development as a writer, and with it the history of a nation coming to terms with its past. — Excerpts from Grass's major novels -- from The Tin Drum to Crabwalk -- are included, as are numerous short fictions, essays, and poems, m... more »any of which have never appeared before in English. Grass's gifts as an observer of and participant in the social and political landscape are justly celebrated, as are his inimitable sense of humor, his consistent defense of the disadvantaged, and his mastery of the forms of expression he has employed over the years.
For readers in search of an introduction to his work or for those familiar primarily with his novels, this diverse collection offers a fresh and stimulating introduction to one of the world's greatest living writers.
When the LZ-126 drew close to New York / (from My Century) --
the Stockturm, Long-distance song effects / (from the Tin Drum) --
in the tunnel --
Nursery rhyme --
By the time the war broke out / (from Cat and mouse) --
Execution on the playground / (from My century) --
Roll your own --
There was once a city / (from Dog years) --
Dixieland! / (from My century) --
Look back at the tin drum, or the author as a dubious witness --
Two left-handers --
When the wall went up --
Operation travel bureau / from My century --
I like riding the escalator --
On writers as court jesters and on non-existent courts --
Literature and politics --
A father's difficulties in explaining Auschwitz to his children --
When father wanted to remarry --
Isn't it nice to be rich and famous? / (from From the diary of a snail) --
Call to the special unit / (from My century) --
Police radio --
Israel and me --
Immured --
By a rough estimate --
Askesis --
But what is my stone? / (from Headbirths or the Germans are dying out) --
Stone --
Artist's freedom of opinion in our society --
Last meal / (from the Flounder) --
Literature and myth --
Hare and the hedgehog --
Destruction of mankind has begun --
Posthuman times (from the rat) --
Bikini Atoll --
Berlin --
a projected fiction --
Alexander and Alexandra / (from the Call of the Toad) Madness! Sheer madness!? / (from My century) --
Wallpeckers / (from Too far afield) --
My old Olivetti ; Willy Brandt at the Warsaw ghetto --