| Europe Central Contributor(s): Vollmann, William T. (Author), Cosham, Ralph (Read by) |
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ISBN: 1433274337 ISBN-13: 9781433274336 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks OUR PRICE: $44.96 Product Type: Compact Disc - Other Formats Published: February 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary |
| Dewey: FIC |
| Physical Information: 1.9" H x 5.3" W x 5.9" (1.10 lbs) |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - Central Europe |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this magnificent work of fiction, William T. Vollmann turns his trenchant eye to the authoritarian cultures of Germany and the USSR in the twentieth century. The result is a daring and mesmerizing perspective on human actions during wartime. Assembling a composite portrait of these two warring leviathans and the terrible age they defined, the narrative intertwines experiences both real and fictional: a young German who joins the SS to reveal its secrets and stop its crimes, two generals who collaborate with the enemy for different reasons and with different results, the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich laboring under Stalinist oppression. This last story is perhaps Vollmann's signature accomplishment in this volume. Also explored are the fates of artists and poets ranging from Kathe Kollwitz and Anna Akhmatova to Marina Tsvetaeva and Van Cliburn. |
Contributor Bio(s): Vollmann, William T.: - William T. Vollman is the author of eight novels, three collections of stories, a memoir, and Rising Up and Rising Down, which was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award. His 1996 story collection, The Atlas, won the PEN Center USA/West Award and he was the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award in 1988. Vollmann's journalism has been published in the New Yorker, Esquire, Harpers, Granta, Grand Street, and Outside magazine. Cosham, Ralph: -Ralph Cosham (1936-2014), a.k.a. Geoffrey Howard, was a British journalist who changed careers to become a narrator and screen and stage actor. He performed in more than one hundred professional theatrical roles, and several of his narrations were named "Audio Best of the Year" by Publishers Weekly. In 2013 he won the coveted Audie Award for his narration of Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery. |