The most famous antiwar novel of the 20th century, All Quiet on the Western Front,
brought its author, a young German veteran, immediate fame and great wealth. The 1930 Hollywood film is a classic. Yet who remembers the other novels and plays that Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) wrote in his long and productive career? Many of them hit the bestseller lists in Europe and the United States and were also turned into films. All are forgotten, except perhaps in his native Germany, where Remarque, pursued by the Nazis and even after WWII vilified as a traitor, has finally received his due from scholars. Tims's English-language biography is decent. The author follows Remarque from his provincial, lower-middle-class and emotionally starved upbringing to service in the German army in WWI. Restless and ambitious, he tried his hand at teaching, then journalism, and managed to write a few forgettable short stories. Then came the overnight sensation of All Quiet,
a success that failed to still Remarque's deep insecurities and his ambivalence about the glare of fame. British novelist and biographer Tims provides plot summaries of Remarque's novels, but little analysis. Midway through, as Hollywood's most glamorous stars, including Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and Paulette Goddard, make room in their beds for the rich, handsome and sensitive Remarque and provide him temporary relief from his emotional torments, the book begins to read like an unending gossip column. That has its charms, but only for so long. Illus. (June)
