The December book pick of the German Book Office is A Happy Man by
Hansjörg Schertenleib, translated by David Dollenmayer, which was
published in November by Melville House as part of its Contemporary Art
of the Novella Series ($13, 9781933633817/1933633816).
The
"happy man" is named This, a jazz singer living in Amsterdam with his
wife and daughter. The publisher calls the protagonist "a smart,
interesting, quirky jazz musician... albeit with a wife suffering
from depression and a rebellious teenaged daughter. They find his
contentedness more and more irritating. And yet This just can't help
it--life makes him happy. And the mounting tension that results is
beautifully set off by Schertenleib's lyrical prose, the smoky setting
of Amsterdam, and the dialogue that's as edgy as that of a noir movie."
Born
in 1957 in Zürich, Switzerland, Schertenleib has written for many
German-language newspapers and magazines and is the author of seven
novels, two collections of poetry, two story collections and three YA
novels. He lives in Ireland.
Dollenmayer is professor of German
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the author of The Berlin Novels
of Alfred Döblin. Last year he won the Helen and Kurt Wolff
Translator's Prize.