Weary of wandering wastelands of letters full of vacuous brainchildren and hidden in pretentious verbal fogs; disgusted with both aesthetic sweet-talkers and grammatical waters of drink; I have resolved: to treat all who have ever written, whether out of love and hate, as alive and ever living ! - - -

As a young adult, I treasured collections of literary essays by Carlos Fuentes and Salman Rushdie. It was such a confirmation to see my opinions about the pantheon confirmed or challenged. It was with a similar nerdy insularity that I plunged into this collection.

It is no surprise but I was unfamiliar with all (save for Karl May) of the German authors which Schmidt explores. That said, I was intrigued and found myself making inquiries and scribbling notes. The tome concludes with forays into the Family Bronte as well as the formidable Wake. I feel enriched on both counts. ( )