>Mandelbaum Verlag

Jakob Wassermann - A Biographical Collage

Famous German author Heinrich Mann once praised Jakob Wassermann: "If the art of writing a novel had not yet been invented, Wassermann would have been the man to do just that." With essays, poems and novels like "Der Fall Maurizius/ The Case of Maurizius" or "Die Juden von Zirndorf/ The Jews from Zirndorf" and his autobiography "Mein Weg als Deutscher und Jude/My Life as German and Jew" Jakob Wassermann, born 1837 as the son of a failed Jewish businessman in poor surroundings, achieved considerable fame. Unfortunately, the life and work of this extraordinary artist has sunken into oblivion. This biography is dedicated to him.

The main part of this book is chronologically built on autobiographical sayings, various other opinions and texts by and about Wassermann. The poet, the author, the German, the Jew, the lover, the father - different facets of one life explored through private and public opinions, of the people who were central to life and literary effect of Jakob Wasserman: The publishing houses in Berlin, as well as friends of the "Wiener Moderne " like Hugo von Hofmannshal and Arthur Schnitzler. This is a biography as well as a genrepicture of the literary elite in the 1910/20´s and includes a directory of persons with literary impact and their relations. Additionally there are a lot of photographies.