"...particularly peculiar, breath-taking and worth telling." Alexander Solloch, NDR Kultur. Francis Nenik's thrilling slice of narrative non-fiction is about the life of the forgotten writer Hasso Grabner, told with great joy in language and love of absurdity. The journey takes us from the Young Communists in 1920s Leipzig to wartime Crete, with Grabner falling from steelworks director to a vilified author banned from publishing his work in the GDR.

About the Author
Francis Nenik is a pseudonym; the writer prefers to remain anonymous. He was born in the early 1980s and lives in Leipzig. Nenik boasts numerous publications in renowned magazines such as Merkur, Edit and Words Without Borders, some of which were produced for radio. His debut novel XO was published as a loose-leaf collection. His award-winning essay "The Marvel of Biographical Bookkeeping" (tr. Katy Derbyshire) was published by Readux Books in 2013, Coin Operated History (tr. Amanda DeMarco) by Fiktion in 2016. Born in London and based in Berlin for more than twenty years, Katy Derbyshire translates contemporary German writers. Her published work includes books by Clemens Meyer, Christa Wolf, Heike Geissler and Olga Grjasnowa.

Reviews
"Truth stranger than fiction, told with lancet-like irony. Nenik follows his picaresque pragmatist across the shifting fronts of socialism and fascism, navigating the horrors of World War II with black humour recalling Catch-22 or Slaughterhouse-Five, and finding the absurdist entertainment value in East German party intrigues. The verbal pyrotechnics drive an incisive reflection on the workings of the 'grotesque named history'." Isabel Cole, writer and translator of Wolfgang Hilbig



Book Information
ISBN 9783863912574
Author Francis Nenik
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint V & Q Books
Publisher V & Q Books
Weight(grams) 260g
Dimensions(mm) 200mm * 136mm * 13mm