{"product_id":"little-man-what-now-isbn-9781933633640","title":"Little Man, What Now?","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe return of a “superb” forgotten masterpiece about \u003cb\u003ea young couple living in Weimar Germany during the Nazi’s rise to power (Graham Greene)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eWritten just before the Nazis came to power, this darkly enchanting novel tells the simple story of a young couple trying to eke out a devent life amidst an economic crisis that’s transforming their country into a place of anger and despair. It was an international bestseller upon its release, and made into a Hollywood movie—by Jewish producers, which prompted the rising Nazis to begin paying ominously close attention to Hans Fallada, even as his novels held out stirring hope for the human spirit. Ultimately, it is the book that led to Hans Fallada’s downfall with the Nazis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is presented here in its first-ever uncut translation, by Susan Bennett, and with an afterword by Philip Brady that details the calamitous background of the novel, its worldwide reception, and how it turned out to be, for the author, a dangerous book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Painfully true to life . . . I have read nothing so engaging as \u003ci\u003eLittle Man, What Now?\u003c\/i\u003e for a long time.” \u003cb\u003e—Thomas Mann\u003c\/b\u003e“Fallada deserves high praise for having reported so realistically, so truthfully, with such closeness to life.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Herman Hesse\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “ Superb.” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—Graham Greene\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “In a publishing hat trick, Melville House allows English-language readers to sample Fallada’s vertiginous variety accompanying the release of Michael Hoffman’s splendid translation of \u003ci\u003eEvery Man Dies Alone\u003c\/i\u003e with the simultaneous publication of excellent English versions of Fallada’s two best-known novels, \u003ci\u003eLittle Man, What Now?\u003c\/i\u003e (translated by Susan Bennett) and \u003ci\u003eThe Drinker\u003c\/i\u003e (translated by Charlotte and A.L. Lloyd). In his probing afterword to \u003ci\u003eLittle Man, What Now?\u003c\/i\u003e, Philip Brady ponders the question of why the book isn't better-known today: ‘Enduring success is one thing, immediate impact is something different, and clearly the immediate impact of Fallada’s novel was undeniable.’ Given our current economic circumstances, the book may have a second chance at impact and endurance.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eBefore WWII , German writer \u003cb\u003eHans Fallada\u003c\/b\u003e’s novels were international bestsellers,  on a par with those of his countrymen Thomas Mann and Herman Hesse. In America, Hollywood  even turned his first big novel, \u003ci\u003eLittle Man, What Now? \u003c\/i\u003einto a major motion picture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Learning the movie was made by a Jewish producer, however, Hitler decreed Fallada’ s work could no longer be sold outside Germany, and the rising Nazis began to pay  him closer attention. When he refused to join the Nazi party he was arrested by the  Gestapo—who eventually released him, but thereafter regularly summoned him for “discussions”  of his work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e However, unlike Mann, Hesse, and others, Fallada refused to flee to  safety, even when his British publisher, George Putnam, sent a private boat to rescue  him. The pressure took its toll on Fallada, and he resorted increasingly to drugs  and alcohol for relief. After Goebbels ordered him to write an anti-Semitic novel,  he snapped and found himself imprisoned in an asylum for the “criminally insane”—considered  a death sentence under Nazi rule. To forestall the inevitable, he pretended to write  the assignment for Goebbels, while actually composing three encrypted books—including  his tour de force novel \u003ci\u003eThe Drinker\u003c\/i\u003e—in such dense code that they were not deciphered  until long after his death.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Fallada outlasted the Reich and was freed at war’s end.  But he was a shattered man. To help him recover by putting him to work, Fallada’s  publisher gave him the Gestapo file of a simple, working-class couple who had resisted  the Nazis. Inspired, Fallada completed \u003ci\u003eEvery Man Dies Alone \u003c\/i\u003ein just twenty-four days.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He died in February 1947, just weeks before the book’s publication.","brand":"Melville House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303003967717,"sku":"NP9781933633640","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781933633640.jpg?v=1730752710","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/little-man-what-now-isbn-9781933633640","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}