Collected Short Stories of Bertolt Brecht

Description

Everyone knows that Bertolt Brecht was one of the great 20th-century innovators in theatre - the literary-theatrical equivalent of a Picasso or Stravinsky - and Germany's greatest poet of the last century, but the playwright was also a dazzling writer of stories. Storytelling permeated his art as a dramatist; fundamentally in his plays he was a storyteller. This volume collects the complete short stories written by Brecht, including the prize-winning 'The Monster', and the fragmentary memoir ghost-written by Brecht, 'Life Story of the boxer Samson-Koerner'. Brecht scholar Marc Silberman provides an introduction and editorial notes. Fans of Brecht will find in the 37 stories assembled here the same directness, lack of affectation, and wry humour that characterise his plays. Every lover of short stories will discover an unexpected trove of pleasure in this "mine for short-story addicts" (Observer).

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists of the 20th century whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and writing have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera and, while exiled from Germany and living in the USA, such masterpieces as The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Casual wickedness, moral hypocrisy, determined self-interest - such are the familiar residents of Brecht's milieu . . .in this complete collection of his known finished stories . . . Chilling perfection. * Times Literary Supplement * Highly anecdotal, humourously accepting of the facts of life, like tales told by a clever seaman in a pub. * Guardian * These tales are the least known of Brecht's work, yet they underlie most of his major writings in other fields. Terse, mild-voiced, with piercing detail - a mine for short story addicts. * Observer * But whether Brecht is negotiating relationships, providing narrative attesting to a character's humanity, or offering an anthropological approach to displacement or alienation, there is always a superior literary talent at work. His plots, characterizations, style, and language in these short stories prove Silberman's point. Among other things, Brecht was a great and engaging storyteller. I'd even go so far as to say that many of the offerings in The Collected Short Stories of Bertolt Brecht are equal to his works for the stage. -- Nathaniel Nesmith * American Theatre *