Books by Robert Walser and Complete Book Reviews
Robert Walser, Author, Christopher Middleton, Translator, Susan Sontag, Foreword by New York Review of Books $14.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-940322-98-1
Described by Susan Sontag in the introduction to his Selected Stories as ""a good-humored, sweet Beckett,"" Swiss novelist Robert Walser (1878-1956) committed himself to a sanatorium in 1933 and spent the rest of his life there. Admired by Hesse...
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Robert Walser, trans. from the German by Damion Searls, intro. by Ben Lerner. NYRB, $14.95 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-59017-672-6
The most striking aspect of Swiss author Walser’s stories is how modern they seem, both in form and content, given that they were written nearly 100 years ago. Most are very short, fitting comfortably into the flash fiction genre, though distinct in
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Robert Walser, Author, Susan Bernofsky, Translator New Directions Publishing Corporation $16.95 (301p) ISBN 978-0-8112-1590-9
Swiss writer Walser (1878-1956) wrote this Kafka-esque novel in 1908. Joseph Marti, a 24-year-old clerk, comes to work and live in the home-office of inventor-entrepreneur Karl Tobler, a boor and practical incompetent. As business prospects dry up...
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Robert Walser, trans. from the German by Susan Bernofsky. New York Review Books, $14 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-59017-454-8
In the first English translation of his stories, Walser (an early twentieth century Swiss writer and European modernist) portrays Berlin through vignettes organized in four sections: "The City Streets"; "The Theater"; "Berlin Life"; and "Looking...
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Robert Walser, trans. from the German by Susan Bernofsky, Lydia Davis, and Christopher Middleton. New Directions/Christine Burgin, $24.95 (144p) ISBN 978-0-8112-2424-6
In this illuminating collection of short writings on paintings, Swiss author Walser’s rich brand of prose takes center stage. Walser’s older brother, Karl, was a famous artist who deeply influenced Walser’s life and appreciation of the visual arts....
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Robert Walser, trans. from the German by Tom Whalen, with Nicole Köngeter and Annette Wiesner. New York Review Books, $14.95 trade paper (200p) ISBN 978-1-68137-016-3
The inimitable output of the belatedly canonized Swiss writer Walser proves to be a gift that keeps on giving. The latest collection of Walser’s beguiling miniatures makes this more than clear in 88 sketches, fancies, and trifles (or feuilletons)...
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Robert Walser, trans. from the German by Tom Whalen. NYRB Classics, $15.95 trade paper (298p) ISBN 978-1-68137-522-9
This charming edition of his short stories and essays by the Swiss writer Walser (1878-1956), selected and translated by Whalen (who also translated Walser’s Girlfriends, Ghosts, and Other Stories), is a testament to the author’s virtuosity. In the...
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