Sarah Wolf
Coordinator
German Book Office New York
T (212) 794 - 2851
F (212) 794 - 2870
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March Book of the Month
Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer
Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer was written by Ernst Weiss and translated by Joel Rotenberg. It was released by Archipelago Books in January 2010.
Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer is an enthralling portrait of a disturbed mind. A man of medicine, a rational scientist: Letham seems an unlikely murderer. Or does he? Are rationality and the criminal mind mutually exclusive?
Told as a first - person narrative, Letham’s retelling of his crime is less of a criminal mystery, than a gripping psychological exploration. Exiled to a disease ravaged island and lost in epidemiological pursuits, Letham reveals himself with surprising results; underneath the cool rationality and emotional detachment, is a man capable of feeling.
Ernst Weiss (1882–1940) was born in Brünn, Moravia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Brno, Czech Republic). He was a trained physician and surgeon and served as a ship's doctor for many years. A German writer and speaker, he met Kafka in 1913, and was convinced to write full-time. Weiss, a Jew, committed suicide in Paris when the Nazis entered the city in 1940. Little of his work has been translated into English.
Joel Rotenberg has translated numerous works including The Post-Office Girl, Chess Story and The Lord Chandos Letter.
“Weiss . . . took soul-searching to its darkest depths. He is remarkably open . . . searching and piercing.” The Complete Review
"I wonder why Weiss isn't better known here. A doctor as well as a writer, he knew about the body as well as the heart, and you can trust him when he describes how each can act on the other."
The Guardian
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