Author(s): Imre Kertesz

Judaica

Translated into English at last, Fiasco joins its companion volumes Fatelessness (Vintage, 2004) and Kaddish for an Unborn Child (Vintage, 2004), describing the author's return from the Nazi death camps, only to find his country taken over by another totalitarian government. Life under the regime is depicted as a continuation of the camp. Forced into the army, the protagonist decides to feign insanity to be released from duty. Kafka-like and surprisingly funny, Fiasco confronts the Communist takeover of Hungary with unrelenting pessimistic clarity.