Clairvoyant of the Small: The Life of Robert Walser
Susan Bernofsky
Jan 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Natasha Soudek
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Audiobook
15 hr 41 min
Unabridged
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Eligible
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About this audiobook
The first English-language biography of one of the great literary talents of the twentieth century, written by his award-winning translator The great Swiss-German modernist author Robert Walser lived eccentrically on the fringes of society, shocking his Berlin friends by enrolling in butler school and later developing an urban-nomad lifestyle in the Swiss capital, Bern, before checking himself into a psychiatric clinic. A connoisseur of power differentials, his pronounced interest in everything inconspicuous and modest-social outcasts and artists as well as the impoverished, marginalized, and forgotten-prompted W. G. Sebald to dub him "a clairvoyant of the small." His revolutionary use of short prose forms won him the admiration of Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin, Robert Musil, and many others. He was long believed an outsider by conviction, but Susan Bernofsky presents a more nuanced view in this immaculately researched and beautifully written biography. Setting Walser in the context of early twentieth century European history, she provides illuminating analysis of his extraordinary life and work, bearing witness to his "extreme artistic delight."
About the author
Susan Bernofsky is associate professor of writing at Columbia University School of the Arts and director of the literary translation program in Columbia's MFA Writing Program. She has translated over twenty books.
Natasha Soudek's voice is as distinct and memorable as the range of characters she's played on-screen, which gives listeners an immediate familiarity to connect to, along with a warmth and intimacy that spans and uplifts any genre.
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