His formal innovation ranks with Beckett and Kafka, his outrageously cantankerous voice recalls Dostoevsky, but his gift for lacerating, lyrical, provocative prose is incomparably his own.One of Bernhard's most acclaimed novels, The Loser centers on a fictional relationship between piano virtuoso Glenn Gould and two of his fellow students who feel compelled to renounce their musical ambitions in the face of Gould's incomparable genius. One commits suicide, while the other—the obsessive, witty, and self-mocking narrator—has retreated into obscurity. Written as a monologue in one remarkable unbroken paragraph, The Loser is a brilliant meditation on success, failure, genius, and fame.

    Paul Celan: A Biography Of His Youth, by Chalfen, Israel

    of Das Märchen? 1795)30 • Fair-Haired Eckbert • novelette by Ludwig Tieck (trans. of Der blonde Eckbert 1797)47 • A Wondrous Oriental Fairy Tale of a Naked Saint • short fiction by Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (trans. of Ein wunderbares morgenländisches Märchen von einem nackten Heiligen? 1797)52 • Klingsohr's Tale • short fiction by Novalis (trans. of Klingsohrs Märchen 1802)77 • Hyacinth and Rosebud • short story by Novalis (trans. of Hyazinth und Rosenblüthe? 1802)81 • The Runenberg • novelette by Ludwig Tieck (trans. of Der Runenberg 1804)102 • The New Melusina • novelette by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (trans. of Die neue Melusine 1816)121 • The History of Krakatuk • (1833) • short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann (trans. of Das Märchen von der harten Nuß 1816)133 • The Marble Statue • short fiction by Joseph von Eichendorff (trans. of Das Marmorbild 1819) [as by Joseph, Freiherr von Eichendorff]172 • The Tale of the Myrtle-Girl • short fiction by Clemens Brentano (trans. of Das Märchen von dem Myrtenfräulein 1826)184 • The Cold Heart • [Das kalte Herz / The Cold Heart] • novella by Wilhelm Hauff (trans. of Das kalte Herz 1827)221 • The Story of Beautiful Lau • short fiction by Eduard Mörike? (trans. of Die Historie von der schönen Lau 1853)241 • Hinzelmeier: A Thoughtful Story • novelette by Theodor Storm (trans. of Hinzelmeier: Eine nachdenkliche Geschichte 1850)264 • Bulemann's House • novelette by Theodor Storm (trans. of Bulemanns Haus 1864)282 • The Tale of the 672nd Night • short story by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (trans. of Das Märchen der 672. Nacht? 1895)298 • Jackals and Arabs • (1948) • short story by Franz Kafka (trans. of Schakale und Araber 1917)303 • Biographical Notes (German Literary Fairy Tales) • essay by Frank G. Ryder