Books by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Tal og matematik. Nej tak! Det er slet ikke noget for mig. Sådan tænker bogens hovedperson, Robert. Men en nat drømmer han om Taldjævelen, der i løbet af 12 nætter fra gang til gang jonglerer med nye talrækker, og til slut har Robert - og læseren - et langt mere positivt forhold til matematikken. Roman for større børn.

Hans Magnus Enzensberger er ikke kendt for at strø om sig med interviews eller udtalelser om personlige forhold i det hele taget. Tværtimod. Derfor vakte det opsigt i Tyskland, da ”Tumult” udkom sidste efterår og det stod klart, at Enzensberger havde skrevet en selvbiografi. ”Tumult” er et resultat af, at Enzensberger i sin kælder fandt en kasse med gamle notater, der bl.a. omhandler hans besøg i Krustjovs feriehus i 1963. Turene til U.S.S.R. blev også anledningen til skilsmissen fra hans første kone, da han mødte den russiske forfatter Maria Makarova, som han forelskede sig i og senere giftede sig med. I "Tumult" møder den ældre Enzensberger møder sig selv, som han var for 50 år siden, og læseren får indblik i tidens (60’ernes) politiske landskab samt forfatterens holdning til den unge Enzensberger.

I Det tandløse monster i Bruxelles tager Hans Magnus Enzensberger læseren med på en rejse for at finde virkeligheden og sandheden om EU. Turen går til Bruxelles men også til Strasbourg og Luxembourg. Her hersker bureaukratiet og bureaukraterne enevældigt. I modsætning til andre skeptikere lader Enzensberger virkelighedens absurditeter komme til orde. Det har været hans metode siden gennembruddet med Forhøret i Havanna, 1971.Han lader agurkernes krumning, wc-kummernes design og porreforordningerne så at sige tale for sig selv.

One of Germany's greatest living writers offers up an analysis (and samples) of his failed projects. "My dear fellow artists, whether writers, actors, painters, film-makers, singers, sculptors, or composers, why are you so reluctant to talk about your minor or major failures?" With that question, Hans Magnus Enzensberger--the most senior among Germany's great writers--begins his amusing ruminations on his favorite projects that never saw the light of day. There is enlightenment in every embarrassing episode, he argues, and while artists tend to forget their successes quickly, the memory of a project that came to nothing stays in the mind for years, if not decades. Triumphs hold no lessons for us, but fiascos can extend our understanding, giving insight into the conditions of production, conventions, and practices of the industries concerned, and helping novices to assess the snares and minefields in the industry of their choice. What's more, Enzensberger argues, flops have a therapeutic effect: They can cure, or at least alleviate, the vocational illnesses of authors, be it the loss of control or megalomania. In Gone but Not Forgotten, Enzensberger looks back at his uncompleted experiments not just in the world of books but also in cinema, theater, opera, and journal publishing, and shares with us a "store of ideas" teeming with sketches of still-possible projects. He also reflects on the likely reasons for these big and small defeats. Interspersed among his ruminations are excerpts from those experiments, giving readers a taste of what we missed. Together, the pieces in this volume build a remarkable picture of a versatile genius's range of work over more than half a century and make us reflect on the very nature of success and failure by which we measure our lives.

Any new book by poet, essayist, writer, and translator Hans Magnus Enzensberger, one of the most influential and internationally renowned German intellectuals, is cause for notice, and Mr. Zed‿s Reflections is no exception. Every afternoon for almost a year, a plump man named Mr. Zed comes to the same spot in the city park and engages passersby with quick-witted repartee. Those who pass ask, who is this man? A wisecracker, a clown, a belligerent philosopher? Many shake their heads and move on; others listen to him, engage with him, and, again and again, end up at the same place. He doesn‿t write anything down, but his listeners often take notes. With subversive energy and masterful brevity, Mr. Zed undermines arrogance, megalomania, and false authority. A determined speaker who doesn‿t care for ambitions, he forces topics that others would rather keep to themselves. Reluctant to trust institutions and seeing absolutely nothing as “non-negotiable,â€? he admits mistakes and does away with judgment.  He is no mere ventriloquist dummy for his creator‿he is too stubborn for that. And at the end of the season, when it becomes too cold and uncomfortable in the park, he disappears, never to be seen again. Collected in this thought-provoking and unique work are the considerations and provocations of this squat, park-bench philosopher, giving us a volume of truths and conversations that are clear-cut, skeptical, and fiercely illuminating.

A unique and modern approach to money, wealth, greed, and financial ignorance presented via a story of a family in the Munich suburbs. The Federmanns live a pleasant but painfully normal life in the Munich suburbs. All that the three children really know about money is that there‿s never enough of it in their family.   Every so often, their impish Great-Aunt Fé descends on the city. After repeated cycles of boom and bust, profligacy and poverty, the grand old lady has become enormously wealthy and lives alone in a villa on the shore of Lake Geneva. But what does Great-Aunt Fé want from the Federmanns, her only surviving relatives? This time, she invites the children to tea at her luxury hotel where she spoils, flummoxes, and inspires them. Dismayed at their ignorance of the financial ways of the world, she gives them a crash course in economics that piques their curiosity, unsettles their parents, and throws open a whole new world. The young Federmanns are for once taken seriously and together they try to answer burning questions: Where does money come from? Why are millionaires and billionaires never satisfied? And why are those with the most always showered with more?   In this rich volume, the renowned poet, translator, and essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger turns his gimlet eye on the mechanisms and machinations of banks and politicians‿the human greed, envy, and fear that fuels the global economy. A modern, but moral-less fable, Money, Money, Money! is shot through with Enzensberger‿s trademark erudition, wit, and humanist desire to cut through jargon and forearm his readers against obscurantism. Â

En dag, da Robert sidder alene i køkkenet og ser fjernsyn, sker der noget mærkeligt. Han gnider sig i øjnene, billedet på skærmen flyder ud, og pludselig befinder han sig i billedets virkelighed, på et fremmed sted i en anden tid. Han er i Sibirien i 1956 i bidende kulde og søger tilflugt på et apotek, hvor han træffer Olga, som hjælper ham. Men Robert ender alligevel i et russisk fængsel, fordi myndighederne tror, han er amerikansk spion. Efter Rusland havner han i det varme Australien i 1946. Her møder han Carolin, som bliver hans første kærlighed. Senere bliver han page i et fyrstendømme og forelsket i en prinsesse. - Syv gange i alt springer Robert fra en tid til en anden, men hvordan kan han vende tilbage til sin egen tid? Roman for større børn.

With subversive energy and masterful brevity, Mr Zed undermines arrogance, megalomania, and false authority. A determined speaker who doesn't care for ambitions, he forces topics that others would rather keep to themselves. This work collects the considerations and provocations of this squat park-bench philosopher.

An international best-seller that does for maths what Sophie's World did for philosophy.