The Goethe Book Club, hosted by Chris Walker, meets once a month to discuss works from contemporary German-speaking authors and explore experiences with the text. Each selection can be read in its English translation or original German; the discussion will be in English.

No registration required, simply pick up the book from our Pop Up Library. Copies can also be obtained online via most major retailers in hard copy or digital format.

This month's book for discussion: Peter Stamm's novel Agnes

Peter Stamm: “Agnes” (1998)
“Write a story about me,” Agnes said to her lover, “so I know what you think of me.” So he started to write the story of everything that had happened to them from the moment they met.
At first, he works with Agnes to create a narrative that is most true to life, but as time passes and he grows more enamored with the narrative he has begun, he continues writing on his own, imagining a future for them after he reaches the present. Happy couples do not necessarily make for compelling reading, and as Agnes sees the unexpected plot he has planned for her, the line between fiction and reality begins to blur.

In this unforgettable and haunting novel, Stamm incisively examines the power of storytelling to influence thought and behavior, reaching a chilling conclusion.

Source: Other Press

Peter Stamm
Peter Stamm is the author of the novels Seven Years, On a Day Like This, and Unformed Landscape, and the short-story collections We’re Flying and In Strange Gardens and Other Stories. His prize-winning books have been translated into more than thirty languages. For his entire body of work and his accomplishments in fiction, he was short-listed for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013, and in 2014 he won the prestigious Friedrich Hölderlin Prize. He lives in Switzerland.

“A provocative and mesmerizing book.” — Publishers Weekly

Image courtesy of Other Press