Me and Kaminski

ISBN-13: 9780307389893 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 208 str.

Daniel Kehlmann

Opis

Sebastian Zollner is searching for his big break. A failure as a journalist, a boyfriend, and a human being, he sets out to write the essential biography of the eccentric painter Manuel Kaminski. All he needs to do is ingratiate himself into Kaminski s family, wait for him to kick the bucket, and then reap the rewards. There s only one problem. Kaminski has an agenda of his own, an agenda that will send them on a wild-goose chase to places neither of them ever expected to go.
Told with Nabokovian wit and an edgy intelligence, Me and Kaminski is a shrewd send-up of art and journalistic pretensions from the internationally acclaimed author of Measuring the World."

Recenzje

Display[s] a pyrotechnic ability to skewer not just journalists, but also the entire art world, from artists and critics to gallery owners and patrons. . . . Wonderful. The Washington Times

A piercing look into the art world. . . . Kehlmann s critique of celebrity, of fame and of the ugliness of self-promotion holds strong. San Francisco Chronicle

Zollner [is], in spite of everything, an endearing character who is both comic and sympathetic. . . . Can be absorbed and thoroughly enjoyed in one sitting. Rocky Mountain News

Funny and surprisingly thoughtful. . . . Zollner touches on art and aging, truth and illusion and the stories we tell ourselves so we can keep going when the going s hard. St. Petersburg Times

[Zollner] is . . . amusingly distasteful, utterly unreliable, [and] recognizable to readers of Nabokov and his present-day disciples like Amis and Banville. . . . Philosophically and psychologically provocative. Bookforum

Sebastian Zollner and Manuel Kaminski are quite a pair. . . . Laugh-out-loud funny. Las Vegas Review-Journal

A singular book, barbed and compassionate, uproarious and touching. The Anniston Star

Witty, shrewd and smartly translated. The Guardian (London)

A bitingly funny meditation on memory, aging and death. The Free Lance-Star

[Me and Kaminski] will leave you breathless, caught between laughter and tears, pondering the Great Questions such as What is Art? The Putnam County Courier

Kehlmann has a sure eye for the pretensions of artists and critics. . . . [A] sparkling and consistently amusing comedy, by turns broad and sophisticated. The Telegraph (London)

Fun, fast, and thoroughly enjoyable. New Statesman

[A] novel with brain and a heart [Kehlmann s] real masterpiece. Granta

By turns rollicking, witty and touching. . . . A real treat. The Howard County Times

A gleeful massacre of media presumptions and art-world pretensions. The Independent (London)

Zollner s probing of Kaminski s life culminates in whimsical and often laugh-out-loud circumstances. . . . A satire of all sorts of people in creative professions. Sacramento Book Review

O autorze

Daniel Kehlmann was born in Munich and now lives in Vienna. He has received major awards for his work, most recently the 2005 Candide Award. He was the writer-in-residence at New York University's Deutsches Haus in 2006.