das bin doch ich.

Thomas Glavinic’s book „Das bin doch ich“ (Isn’t that me) is a novel about himself, waiting for success, a publisher and money for his book „Die Arbeit der Nacht“ (Night Work).

Glavinic describes himself in his current position disaffected. Still he wants to get on the german short list for the book price, which won’t happen anyway. With a great sense for realism and kind of gallows humor he outlines himself, no hero at all but an egocentric hypochondriac who is slave to his habits. He realises: „Thomas Glavinic is an eight year old boy and I have to live with him.“

In a circle of some austrain pseudo celebrities, he finds himself dispensable and excelled by his colleagues, like his friend and author Daniel Kehlmann, who himself is very successfull with his last book. The fact that he is thronged by his mother too „Wann schreibst denn du mal so was?“ (When comes the time when you will write something like that?) doesn’t make it easier for the sniveling author.

Even if it’s not clear what’s the deeper conclusion of the book, it’s really great amusement to read it.

"Story-tellers tell stories. Great story-tellers like Thomas Glavinic create worlds we lose ourselves in." – Ulrich Weinzierl, Die Welt

Sales to Foreign Countries: "Die Arbeit der Nacht": France (Flammarion), Italy (Longanesi), USA / UK (Canongate), China (Horizon Media Company), Korea (Younglim Cardinal), Netherlands (Contact), Spain (Siruela)

The Author
Thomas Glavinic, born 1972 in Graz, lives in Vienna. A free-lance writer since 1991, he published his first novel, "Carl Haffners Liebe zum Unentschieden", in 1998. His last, critically-acclaimed novel, "Die Arbeit der Nacht", was published in 2006 by Hanser.
(www.signandsight.com)

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author: thomas glavinic
publisher: hanser (german)
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