Christian Kracht is a Swiss novelist whose books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. His previous novels include Faserland, 1979, and I Will Be Here in Sunshine and in Shadow. Imperium, originally published in German, was the recipient of the 2012 Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize. In late September Kracht will be stopping through Boston, giving a reading of Imperium at the Goethe Institut with translator Daniel Bowles. Reading will be in German with English Projection on screen.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Summary

In 1902, a radical vegetarian and nudist from Nuremberg named August Engelhardt set sail for the Pacific island of Kabakon. His goal: to found a colony based on worship of the sun and coconuts. Christian Kracht’s Imperium recounts the details of Engelhardt’s coconut-fueled life to craft a fable about the allure of extremism and its fundamental foolishness. An international bestseller, Imperium is funny, bizarre, shocking, and poignant—sometimes all on the same page.

What People are Saying

“Imperium is, first and foremost, one thing—marvelous literature.”
—Erhard Schütz, Der Freitag

“That the novel works as effortlessly as it does is due to the prose style Kracht has chosen for this madcap story of a dropout. What Daniel Kehlmann achieved in Measuring the World—that is, the reinvention of the historical novel by means of language and sophisticated irony—Kracht here achieves for the adventure novel.”
—Felicitas von Lovenberg, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Admission is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP here.

This event is Co-sponsored by the Goethe Institut, the Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University and swissnex Boston.