Collected Stories     by Arno Schmidt, Translated by John E. Woods Published by Dalkey Archive Press Pub. Date: December 1, 1996 Format: Cloth, 306 pages ISBN: 1564781356 List Price: $32.00 buy now directly from the publisher Free Shipping Worldwide Published by Dalkey Archive Press Pub. Date: December 1, 1996 Format: Paperback, 306 pages ISBN: 1564781348 List Price: $13.50 buy now directly from the publisher Free Shipping Worldwide

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Gathered here are all of the short stories that Arno Schmidt wished to preserve. They are grouped under three headings: the first two, Tales from Island Street and S turenburg Stories , are a perfect spot to test Schmidtian waters, to hear the voice of a master storyteller. Twenty-five short tales written for a wide audience, they all share an eerie whimsy. It is as if Schmidt's beloved German Romantics were here with n ew stories for the modern reader.

And then there is Country Matters , longer, more experimental stories written for the adventurous reader. Joyce and Freud are constant inspirations, but Schmidt's unique brand of intellectual ribaldry, shot through with th e pain of our common humanity, enlivens all ten stories. Of the thirty-five stories in this volume, only two have previously appeared in English translation. Ranging from Schmidt at his most inviting and whimsical to Schmidt at his most cerebral and compl ex, the stories are a perfect introduction to his work.

"[Schmidt's stories] are cerebral and complicated, captivating and capricious—each one a small gem."—Booklist

"[Schmidt's stories are] unconventional but witty and accessible works that are the pe rfect introduction to this major, if obscure, artist. . . . While it would be impossible to characterize such a disparate collection in a few words, Schmidt often exposes the sexual, historical, and intellectual currents that course untamed beneath the su perficially placid bourgeois society of postwar Germany, thereby creating an ironic space in which an outsider like himself could find some breathing room. Highly recommended."—Library Journal

"For a collection spanning multiple levels of postwar German experimental fiction, it's hard to do much better than this book."—Publishers Weekly

"A marvelous writer, very much worth discovering."—Kirkus Reviews

"Arno Schmidt's stories are surprisingly, almost shockingly diverse. The works . . . are short, sure and unsettling."—New York Times