{"product_id":"friedrich-dzrrenmatt-selected-writings-volume-1-plays-volume-1-9780226836683","title":"Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Selected Writings, Volume 1, Plays Volume 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThese translations of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's plays introduce the writer to a new generation of readers.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-90) was one of the most important literary figures of the second half of the twentieth century. During the years of the cold war, arguably only Beckett, Camus, Sartre, and Brecht rivaled him as a presence in European letters. Yet outside Europe, this prolific author is primarily known for only one work, \u003ci\u003eThe Visit\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Dürrenmatt's concerns are timeless, but they are also the product of his Swiss vantage during the cold war: his key plays, gathered in the first volume of \u003ci\u003eSelected Writings\u003c\/i\u003e, explore such themes as guilt by passivity, the refusal of responsibility, greed and political decay, and the tension between justice and freedom. In \u003ci\u003eThe Visit\u003c\/i\u003e, for instance, an old lady who becomes the wealthiest person in the world returns to the village that cast her out as a young woman and offers riches to the town in exchange for the life of the man, now its mayor, who once disgraced her. Joel Agee's crystalline translation gives a fresh lease to this play, as well as four others: \u003ci\u003eThe Physicists\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRomulus the Great\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHercules and the Augean Stables\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Marriage of Mr. Mississippi\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Dürrenmatt has long been considered a great writer, but one unfairly neglected in the modern world of letters. With these elegantly conceived and expertly translated volumes, a new generation of readers will rediscover his greatest works. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFriedrich Dürrenmatt\u003c\/b\u003e was born in 1921 in the village of Konolfingen, near Berne, Switzerland, and was the son of a Protestant minister. During World War II he studied philosophy and literature at the Universities of Berne and Zurich. He wrote prolifically and traveled widely in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, taking particular interest in human rights and the preservation of Israel. \u003cb\u003eJoel Agee\u003c\/b\u003e has translated numerous German authors into English, including Heinrich von Kleist, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Elias Canetti. He is the author of two memoirs: \u003ci\u003eTwelve Years: An American Boyhood in East Germany\u003c\/i\u003e and In \u003ci\u003ethe House of My Fear\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cb\u003eKenneth J. Northcott\u003c\/b\u003e (1922-2019) was professor emeritus of German at the University of Chicago. He translated a number of books for the University of Chicago Press. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51580048441618,"sku":"9780226836683","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8db6656d-4bd7-4e22-812e-856f044648e5.jpg?v=1756204549","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/friedrich-dzrrenmatt-selected-writings-volume-1-plays-volume-1-9780226836683","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}