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Sebald, W. G. (Translated by Anthea Bell) : Campo Santo

Random House, New York City, NY, 2005

ISBN 1400062292

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 221 pages. Posthumous collection of essays. One of the greatest literary texts of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents W. G. Sebald's "Campo Santo" in a felicitous English translation. His late collection of literary essays. "Exemplifies the best kind of cosmopolitan literary intelligence: Humane, digressive, erudite, unassuming, and tinged with melancholy. That last quality is particularly important, for if one had to characterize Sebald's ethos, the mood he generates on the page, the themes that haunt him, one could hardly do better than borrow the title of a famous essay by Freud: 'Mourning and Melancholy'. What is Sebald mourning? It's tempting to say, almost fatuously, 'the human condition', for he looks at life with that rare combination of empathetic hyper-sensitivity and analytic coolness that characterizes our greatest interpreters of this heartbreaking world: Rembrandt, Stendhal, Kafka. In particular, Sebald finds himself drawn back repeatedly to the human and material devastation of the Second World War. He chronicles his encounters with the displaced, the exiled, and the broken-hearted. He dramatizes survivor guilt and the loss of identity. He mourns the fate of the Jews, and the fate of the Germans" (The Washington Post). "On every new thing, there lies already the shadow of annihilation. For the history of every individual of every social order, indeed of the whole world, does not describe an ever-widening, more and more wonderful arc, but rather follows a course which, once the meridian is reached, leads without fail down into the dark" (W. G. Sebald). An absolute "must-have" title for W. G. Sebald collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER W. G. SEBALD TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1400062292.

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