Böll, Heinrich

New York. 1981. January 1982. Knopf. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket With A Tear Mark On The Back Inside Flap. 0394514041. Translated from the German by Leila Vennewitz. 317 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. keywords: Literature Translated Germany . FROM THE PUBLISHER - Heinrich Böll's subject here is terrorism-and the terrorized. Trapped at the heart of it all, one family. The old man, Fritz Tolm-publisher of a once-liberal newspaper that has grown away from him into a gigantic cannibalizing consortium-has already seen his life and that of his wife, Kãthe, become a slow suffocation: they are such obvious targets for violent political and social revenge. Now, suddenly and without his cooperation, he is elected head of ‘The Association' (of every major corporation: industrial, financial, energy, media)-the most conspicuous and perhaps truly powerful position in the country. He and she must be protected at all costs-but who and what and where exactly is the threat? Fritz and Kãthe are all too evidently leaders of the Establishment, but their children have grown up as radicals, at home in the counter-culture. There is much love and sympathy between the generations, and within this family network anyone-son, friend, old lover, ex-daughter-in-law-either has been, is now, or perfectly well might be associated with ‘the other side.' All the Tolms are under the constant eyes of the police. but whether as potential victims or attackers (or indeed both) is unpleasantly ambiguous. Even while the signs multiply that an attack of some kind is imminent, Fritz Tolm and his family try to go about their lives. But how do you live in this dreadful inversion of human experience, where instead of your private fears and nightmares being balanced by the comforts of daily reality, it is daily reality itself that is the nightmare? In magnificent defiance of threat and dread, Fritz and Kãthe and their sons and daughter do manage to preserve the bonds of passionate devotion and integrity. inventory #1486 ISBN: 0394514041.