Full Description
Everyone knows that Bertolt Brecht was one of the great 20th-century innovators in theatre - the literary-theatrical equivalent of a Picasso or Stravinsky - and Germany's greatest poet of the last century, but the playwright was also a dazzling writer of stories. Storytelling permeated his art as a dramatist; fundamentally in his plays he was a storyteller. This volume collects the complete short stories written by Brecht, including the prize-winning 'The Monster', and the fragmentary memoir ghost-written by Brecht, 'Life Story of the boxer Samson-Körner'. Brecht scholar Marc Silberman provides an introduction and editorial notes.
Fans of Brecht will find in the 37 stories assembled here the same directness, lack of affectation, and wry humour that characterise his plays. Every lover of short stories will discover an unexpected trove of pleasure in this "mine for short-story addicts" (Observer).
Contents
Introduction
The Bavarian Stories (1920-1924)
Barvan gives up
Story on a Ship
The Revelation
The Foolish Wife
The Blind Man
A Helping Hand
Java Meier
The Lance-Sergeant
Message in a Bottle
A Mean Bastard
The Death of Cesare Malatesta
The Berlin Stories (1924-1933)
The Answer
Before the Flood
Conversation about the South Seas
Letter about a Mastiff
Hook to the Chin
Müller's Natural Attitude
North Sea Shrimps
Bad Water
A Little Tale of Insurance
Four Men and a Poker Game
Barbara
The Good Lord's Package
The Monster
The Job
Stories Written in Exile (1934-1948)
Safety First
The Soldier of La Ciotat
A Mistake
Gaumer and Irk
Socrates Wounded
The Experiment
The Heretic's Coat
Lucullus's Trophies
The Unseemly Old Lady
A Question of Taste
The Augsburg Chalk Circle
Two Sons
Appendix
Life Story of the Boxer Samson-Körner
Editorial Notes
The Principle Collections of Brecht's Short Stories
Notes on the Individual Stories
Index of Titles in German
