Synopses & Reviews
Back in print, here is the classic work from one of the giants of German postwar literature and the basis for the major motion picture
Jakob the Liar, starring Robin Williams.
In the ghetto, possession of a radio is punishable by death. Like thousands of his fellow prisoners, Jacob Heym is cut off from all news of the war—until he is arrested one evening and brought to the German military office, where he overhears a report of the Red Army’s advance to a city some 300 miles away. Miraculously, he is allowed to return to his quarters, but when he tries to spread the good news, the only way to make people believe him is to tell a lie: “How do I know? I have a radio.” One lie leads to another, and before long Jacob finds himself feeding the entire ghetto fabricated news reports of the Russians’ advance—reports that save lives by giving people renewed hope. So Jacob is a hero and a liar. But how much longer can his web of lies hold? Told with suspense and humor, here is a masterful tale of hope, desire, and the life-giving force of fiction.
Review
"A novel about the martyrdom of Europe’s Jews that has never been surpassed." Times Literary Supplement
Review
"A novel about the martyrdom of Europe’s Jews that has never been surpassed." Times Literary Supplement
Review
"An unforgettably beautiful novel . . . Cuts to the very heart of human experience." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"One of the enduring works of the Shoah . . . This miraculous novel pays profound homage to remembrance." Boston Globe
Review
"Creative storytelling . . . Asks us to weigh the human need for hope in all its real and imagined forms." The New Yorker
Synopsis
"A novel about the martyrdom of Europe’s Jews that has never been surpassed." --Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Back in print, here is the classic work from one of the giants of German postwar literature and the basis for the major motion picture Jakob the Liar, starring Robin Williams.
In the ghetto, possession of a radio is punishable by death.
About the Author
Jurek Becker was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1937. A Holocaust survivor, he was one of the very few Jews to remain in Germany after the war. He became an internationally acclaimed novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter and died in 1997.Leila Vennewitz was the distinguished translator of Heinrich Böll and other postwar German writers, including Jurek Becker and Martin Walser. She won numerous awards for her translations. She died in 2007.Louis Begley is the award-winning author of Wartime Lies, About Schmidt, and many other acclaimed novels and works of nonfiction.