Inside the Head of Bruno Schulz

Do you see what kind of a madhouse this town of Drohobycz is now, Dr Mann? People here never think and act as they should! Locked away in a dimly lit cellar in a provincial Polish town, the writer Bruno Schulz is composing a letter to Thomas Mann, warning him of a sinister impostor who has deceived the gullible inhabitants of Drohobycz. In return, he's hoping that the great writer might help him to escape - from his apocalyptic visions, his bird-brained students, the imminent Nazi invasion, and a sadistic sports mistress called Helena. In Inside the Head of Bruno Schulz, Biller blends biographical fact with surreal fiction to recreate the world as seen through the eyes of one of the most original writers of the twentieth century. The novella is published alongside two short stories by Schulz himself, 'Birds' and 'Cinnamon Shops'.

About the Author :
Maxim Biller (b. Prague, 1960) is the author of several novels, plays and collections of short stories, whose work has been compared to that of Philip Roth and Woody Allen. He is also a columnist and literary critic at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and Die Zeit. Bruno Schulz, the fictionalised protagonist of this novella, was a Polish-Jewish writer, artist and critic. Born in Drohobych in 1892, he was one of the world's great authors, although a substantial part of his work was lost following his murder by a Gestapo officer in 1942.

Review :
Fans of Schulz's work will be particularly interested, but anyone can appreciate the way that Biller's voice eases seamlessly into the mind of Schulz, making for a superb read An unceasing pleasure Curious unsettling novella which one can and for maximum effect perhaps should, read in a single setting A powerful piece of fiction... highly recommended A work as complex, as beautiful and as straightforward as a fibre-optic network, each little luminous thread separate but when bundled together capable of carrying immense amounts of information...perfect as an introduction to Biller and Schulz... Biller has given us a tiny and total work of art Biller's story confirms the talismanic qualities of Schulz's work and life, and his ongoing capability to motivate others to create strange new things A linguistic work of art, which shows the stylist Maxim Biller at his creative height Biller writes with a matter-of-fact, unobtrusive elegance which is unmatched by any other German writer of his generation. His novella has attained the level of world literature Iridescently told The perfect invitation to read Schulz... Biller's small novella is a great Kaddish Airy, bold, Mozart-like... a brilliant novella Cold, dark, magnificent Praise for Bruno Schulz: "One of the most remarkable writers who ever lived" - Isaac Bashevis Singer; "Sometimes there are such moments of grace: you open a book by an author you don't know, and suddenly you feel yourself passing through a magnetic field that sends you in a new direction, setting off eddies that you'd barely sensed before and could not name. I read Schulz's stories and felt the gush of life." - David Grossman; "One of the most original imaginations in Europe" Cynthia Ozick Praise for The Street of Crocodiles: "A book I've always loved... a masterpiece" - Jonathan Safran Foer; "A rich stew of metaphysical mischief and meditations" - Michel Faber; "Rich in fantasy, sensuous in their apprehension of the living world, elegant in style, witty, underpinned by a mystical but coherent idealistic aesthetic... unique and startling"