Unformed Landscape begins in a small village on a fjord in the Finnmark, on the northeastern coast of Norway, where the borders between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia lie covered in snow and darkness, where the real borders are between day and night, summer and winter, and between people. Here, a sensitive young woman like Kathrine finds few outlets for her desires. Half Norwegian, half Sami (an indigenous people), Kathrine works for the customs office inspecting the fishing ...

A documentary filmmaker uncovers the secrets of an enigmatic author in this subtly enthralling novel from “one of Europe’s most exciting writers” (New York Times Book Review).For days, documentary filmmaker Andrea and her team have been waiting for Richard Wechsler in his Swiss hometown. During their first shoots in Paris, the famous writer had not wanted to reveal much about himself, and now the whole film threatens to fail.In the narrow streets a...

**Given a second chance with an old love, a coolly detached archivist questions the life he could have had, and whether it’s not too late to live it.A poignant, ingeniously constructed new novel from “one of Europe’s most exciting writers” (New York Times Book Review).**Forty years ago—almost a lifetime—he confessed his love to a classmate and close friend, Franziska. Now, living in his late mother’s house with the obsolete archive of the newspaper he once worked f...

In these 9 exquisite, moving stories from “one of Europe’s most exciting writers” (New York Times Book Review), people struggle to connect in a cold, uneasy world.Looking to escape his past, a Swiss ski instructor relocates to a German resort, where he develops an ambiguous bond with an older woman.An unusual new job unsettles a failed actress, as her character’s tragic story bleeds into her own life.When their son’s obsession with Mars One...

A new novel of artful understatement about mortality, estrangement, and the absurdity of life from the acclaimed author of Unformed Landscape and In Strange GardensOn a day like any other, Andreas changes his life. When a routine doctor’s visit leads to an unexpected prognosis, a great yearning takes hold of him—but who can tell if it is homesickness or wanderlust? Andreas leaves everything behind, sells his Paris apartment; cuts off all social ti...

A man and a woman meet in a park. The man has a story to share, one of a past relationship that contains echoes, similarities to the woman's life too remarkable to be considered just a coincidence. And so the lines of reality begin to blur. Is the man a warning from the future? Is the woman destined to repeat the same mistakes? Who really exists? Is there such thing as fate?

Are you young, eager, smart, and heading off to LA to make it big in the entertainment business? Time for a reality check: Leave your diploma at home, put your grandiose dreams on hold (where hopefully they'll get tired and hang up), and start by repeating the first rule of the industry: Who you work for is more important than who you are. Then leapfrog over everyone else by reading The Hollywood Assistants Handbook.Written by two very sharp and successful assistants to HP...

Peter Stamm's best-selling debut novel, Agnes, now available for the first time in paperback.“Write a story about me,” Agnes said to her lover, “so I know what you think of me.” So he started to write the story of everything that had happened to them from the moment they met.At first, he works with Agnes to create a narrative that is most true to life, but as time passes and he grows more enamored with the narrative he has begun, he continues writi...

After returning from a pleasant holiday with his wife, Astrid, and their two children, Thomas walks out the front door. Thomas walks up the street. Thomas keeps walking.Astrid gradually realizes that her husband has not just gotten up early to go to work. She waits for as long as she can and then puts as much energy as she can into trying to find him - coming to understand, along the way, that there is little she can do if Thomas is striving to stay lost.In precise and hypn...

A novel about survival, self-reliance, and art, by Peter Stamm, finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International PrizeAll Days Are Night is the story of Gillian, a successful and beautiful TV host, content with her marriage to Matthias, even if she feels restless at times. One night following an argument, the couple has a terrible car accident: Matthias, who is drunk, hits a deer on the wet road and dies in the crash. Gillian wakes up in the hospital complet...

Gillian seems to have it all - she is beautiful, successful, and securely married. But one night, after an argument with her husband, their car crashes on a wet road, and everything is lost. When she wakes in the hospital, she is a widow with a ruined face and no way back to the person she thought she was. It is only when she begins to piece together the painful shards of her present existence and revisit a relationship from her past that she is able to glimpse the freedom that might come ...

The stories here possess all the qualities that have built Peter Stamm's reputation as one of the very finest European writers alive today -the undemonstrative prose, the deceptive simplicity of the storylines, and the calm, clear understanding of psychology and emotions. In 'Expectations', we meet a woman who becomes involved with her younger upstairs neighbour; in 'The Result', a man waiting for the outcome of medical tests; and in 'Sweet Dreams', a young couple learning to navigate the ...