Hoffmann was a follower of Cervantes and Sterne, a pioneering ‘magic realist’, fascinated by Gothic horror, extreme mental states and supernatural events occurring within sharply (and sometimes satirically) rendered social settings. A talented composer and painter, he portrayed himself in the guise of the hypochondriac, antisocial and moody but brilliant musician Johannes Kreisler. In this astonishing book, a vain and very bourgeois tomcat sets out to write his memoirs, using a biography of Kreisler as a blotting pad. By a printer’s error, the two lives get spliced together into a bizarre double narrative. A supreme example of literary bravado, The Tomcat Murr is also shot through with the warmth, humanity and almost uncanny ability to captivate his readers which make Hoffmann the greatest of German story tellers.
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Hoffmann was a follower of Cervantes and Sterne, a pioneering ‘magic realist’, fascinated by Gothic horror, extreme mental states and supernatural events occurring within sharply (and sometimes satirically) rendered social settings. A talented composer and painter, he portrayed himself in the guise of the hypochondriac, antisocial and moody but brilliant musician Johannes Kreisler. In this astonishing book, a vain and very bourgeois tomcat sets out to write his memoirs, using a biography of Kreisler as a blotting pad. By a printer’s error, the two lives get spliced together into a bizarre double narrative. A supreme example of literary bravado, The Tomcat Murr is also shot through with the warmth, humanity and almost uncanny ability to captivate his readers which make Hoffmann the greatest of German story tellers.
Imprint | Penguin Classics |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Release date | April 1999 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days |
First published | November 1999 |
Authors | E. T. A Hoffmann |
Translators | Anthea Bell |
Introduction by | Jeremy Adler |
Dimensions | 198 x 129 x 22mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback |
Pages | 349 |
Edition | Revised |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-14-044631-9 |
Barcode | 9780140446319 |
Languages | value |
Subtitles | value |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-14-044631-1 |