Comedies

This book brings Englishlanguage readers works by Walser in a rare form dramolette. Few writers have ever experienced such a steady rise in their reputation and public profile as Swiss writer Robert Walser 18781956 has seen in recent years. As more of his previously littleknown work has been translated into English readers have discovered a unique writer whose offkilter sensibility and innovations in form are perfectly suited to our fragmented distracted bewildering era. The short plays presented here inspired by the German theater Walser enjoyed in his youth while never meant to be performed present scenes characters and situations that comment on the brutality of fairy tales the impossibilities of love the dark fate of the Christ child and Walser himself and more. At the same time like all of Walsers work they are shot through with a humor that is wholly genuine despite its shades of darkness. Gathering all of Walsers plays as well as his later fragmentary dramatic writings Comedies will be celebrated by the many devoted fans of this lately rediscovered master.