false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178253307m/776901.jpg 776901 3 Born in Switzerland in 1878, Robert Walser worked as a bank clerk, a butler in a castle, and an inventor's assistant before discovering what William H. Gass calls his "true profession." From 1899 until he was misdiagnosed a schizophrenic and hospitalized in 1933, Walser produced nine novels and more than a thousand short stories and prose pieces.<P>Walser's contemporary admirers were few but well-placed. They included Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. Today Robert Walser is widely regarded as one of the most important and original literary voices of the twentieth century. In "Masquerade" and Other Stories, Susan Bernofsky presents a representative selection of Walser's work, from his first published fiction to the stately prose of the last years before his voice vanished forever behind the asylum walls. Written between 1899 and 1933, these 64 sketches, scenes, stories, and wanderings through landscapes and dreamscapes are characterized by startling, skewed comparisons, warpings of syntax, vagaries of perspective, and a delight in contradiction. Quirky, playful, and sometimes bizarre, Walser's texts were unconventional by the standards of the early twentieth century. They are still innovative in the context of today's fiction. 762934 1 2 1990 "Masquerade" and Other Stories total:42|5:21|4:12|3:8|2:1|1:0| 42 179 77 6 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1983 Tue Apr 29 21:23:52 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 21:29:43 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 29 18:55:36 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 12:49:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 16 03:22:04 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 03:22:26 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 14 11:24:47 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 11:24:47 -0800 2008 5 0 true true Sun Feb 17 11:13:12 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 11:13:34 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Sep 25 09:34:28 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 09:35:04 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sun Nov 15 10:35:54 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:36:27 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Nov 22 10:22:07 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 06:10:20 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 06:10:27 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 05 14:25:17 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 14:25:17 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 18:38:45 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 18:38:45 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 12 01:35:38 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 01:35:41 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Sep 26 21:09:56 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 21:09:56 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 25 23:05:07 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 23:05:07 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jun 25 07:52:51 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 07:52:51 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Apr 20 04:20:12 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 04:33:42 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Apr 14 17:42:22 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 17:42:22 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Apr 10 06:09:41 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 06:09:41 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Mar 30 21:46:45 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 21:46:45 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Mar 27 19:55:40 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 19:55:40 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Mar 22 17:17:10 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 17:17:10 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=776901