{"product_id":"not-a-novel-a-memoir-in-pieces-9780811229326","title":"Not a Novel: A Memoir in Pieces","description":"On the heels of this literary breakthrough comes \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, a book of personal, profound, often humorous meditations and reflections. Erpenbeck writes, \"With this collection of texts, I am looking back for the first time at many years of my life, at the thoughts that filled my life from day to day.\"\u003cbr\u003e Starting with her childhood days in East Berlin (\"I start with my life as a schoolgirl ... my own conscious life begins at the same time as the socialist life of Leipziger Strasse\"), \u003ci\u003eNot a Novel\u003c\/i\u003e provides a glimpse of growing up in the GDR and of what it was like to be twenty-two when the wall collapsed; it takes us through Erpenbeck's early adult years, working in a bakery after immersing herself in the worlds of music, theater, and opera, and ultimately discovering her path as a writer.\u003cbr\u003e There are lively essays about her literary influences (Thomas Bernhard, the Brothers Grimm, Kafka, and Thomas Mann), unforgettable reflections on the forces at work in her novels (including history, silence, and time), and scathing commentaries on the dire situation of America and Europe today. \"Why do we still hear laments for the Germans who died attempting to flee over the wall, but almost none for the countless refugees who have drowned in the Mediterranean in recent years, turning the sea into a giant grave?\"\u003cbr\u003e With deep insight and warm intelligence, Jenny Erpenbeck provides us with a collection of unforgettable essays that take us into the heart and mind of \"one of the finest and most exciting writers alive\" (Michel Faber).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811229326\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 212\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.50d","brand":"Jenny Erpenbeck","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38027414831285,"sku":"9780811229326","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_aa051241-bb19-43d2-b166-fedefbf1fef5.jpg?v=1609192808","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/not-a-novel-a-memoir-in-pieces-9780811229326","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}