Wolfgang G. Koeppen — A Sad Affair: A Novel

W. W. Norton & Company First edition, first printing. Hard cover in dust jacket. Published NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003. 8vo., xvi+176pp. Fine in fine dust jacket. Banned by the Nazis in 1936 for its frank sexual themes, Wolfgang Koeppen's first novel is at last appearing in English. A romance that anticipated Beat literature by nearly twenty years through its dizzying language and exploration of casual love, this is Koeppen's most hilarious work, one that evokes Mann's Tonio Kruger. Set during the heady, pre-World War II days of cabaret-era Germany, the novel centers around Sibylle?a stunning seductress who balances her love affairs with five men at once?and Friedrich, the callow, melancholic youth who obsessively pursues her. Fine Fine 1st Edition 1st Printing NY 8vo 176