Ulrich Hargenau, a successful writer, has returned to his homeland after a prolonged absence and is soon forced to confront problems that lie beneath the new democratic Germany. Nowhere is this more complex than in Brumholdstein - a flourishing community built over a former concentration camp. When a police station is attacked, a mass grave of unidentified corps is discovered, his estranged ex-wife disappears and attempts are made on his own life, Ulrich gradually pieces together the puzzle of a society in turmoil. In this chilling, unsettling and subtly ironic panorama of contemporary Germany, Walter Abish asks 'how German is it?' to explore a society that has attempted to erase its menacing heritage.

Author Biography

Born in Vienna in 1931, Walter Abish and his parents fled the troubles in Europe in 1940. They left to Shanghai only to leave again in 1949 because of the communist revolution there, and headed for Israel. Abish moved to New York City in 1957, and by the early seventies had begun to publish English-language short stories in cutting-edge magazines and award winning novels. Walter Abish's books include Alphabetical Africa and How German Is It