The Box: Tales from the Darkroom

"It is impossible not to be impressed by Grass's] inexhaustible desire to experiment with the novel and by the many good stories and passages of exquisite writing in The Box."--Charles Simic, New York Review of Books

In this inspired and daring work of fiction, G nter Grass writes in the voices of his eight children as they record memories of their childhoods, of growing up, and especially of their father, who was always at work on a new book, always at the margins of their lives. Memories contradictory, happy, loving, accusatory--they piece together an intimate picture of this most public of men. To say nothing of Marie, a photographer and family friend of many years, perhaps even a lover, whose snapshots taken with an old-fashioned Agfa box camera provide the author with ideas for his work. But her images offer much more than simple replication. They reveal a truth beyond ordinary life, depict the future, tell what might have been, grant the wishes of those photographed. The children speculate on the nature of this magic: Was the enchanted camera a source of inspiration for their father? Did it represent the power of art itself? Was it the eye of God? An audacious literary experiment, The Box is Grass at his best.


Author: Günter Grass
Publisher: Harpervia
Published: 10/11/2011
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.43lbs
Size: 8.08h x 5.32w x 0.52d
ISBN: 9780547577647

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 11/06/2011 pg. 28

About the Author
Steidl Verlag: - Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Gottingen, Germany.Grass, Günter: - GÜNTER GRASS (1927-2015), Germany's most celebrated contemporary writer, attained worldwide renown with the publication of his novel The Tin Drum in 1959. A man of remarkable versatility, Grass was a poet, playwright, social critic, graphic artist, and novelist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1999.