Franzen Comes Alive

Check Out This Book Cover: Before the Feast

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cover of before the feast by Saša StanišićBefore the Feast by Saša Stanišić (Author), Anthea Bell (Translator)

THIS COVER. I would get this image as a tattoo in a heartbeat, if I didn’t think it would make my tattoo artist insane. It’s so intricate and gorgeous. It’s out in June from Tin House Books.

The description:

“It’s the night before the feast in the village of Fu¨rstenfelde (population: an odd number). The village is asleep. Except for the ferryman―he’s dead. And Mrs. Kranz, the night-blind painter, who wants to depict her village for the first time at night. A bell-ringer and his apprentice want to ring the bells―the only problem is that the bells have gone. A vixen is looking for eggs for her young, and Mr. Schramm is discovering more reasons to quit life than to quit smoking.

Someone has opened the doors to the Village Archive, but what drives the sleepless out of their houses is not that which was stolen, but that which has escaped. Old stories, myths, and fairy tales are wandering about the streets with the people. They come together in a novel about a long night, a mosaic of village life, in which the long-established and newcomers, the dead and the living, craftsmen, pensioners, and noble robbers in football shirts bump into each other. They all want to bring something to a close, in this night before the feast.”

I have a good feeling about this book. A few of my recent favorite books have also had foxes on the cover – I take this to be a good sign.

cover of the snow child by eowyn iveycover of crooked heart by lissa evanscover of mr. fox by helen oyeyemi

Comments

      • Saša says

        So weird to imagine people in the US reading about a village in northeast Germany. But hey, I read Barry Hannah and D’J Pancake, so why the hell shouldn’t you guys read about little places in Europe?

        🙂