The Day Ahead, the Night Behind
Vor mir den Tag und hinter mir die Nacht

hein jakob vor mir den tag hinter mir die nacht
Piper Verlag
August 2008 / 192pp
Fiction

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review

A firm favourite on the Berlin performance circuit, appreciated for his gentle, whimsical humour, and his eye for the potential comedy of the everyday, Jakob Hein (son of that star of the GDR firmament, Christoph Hein) delivers another engaging Berlin treat, as Rebecca finds when she encounters Boris and his Agency for Discarded Ideas.

This eccentric operator catalogues shreds and snatches of ideas (mostly his own, she suspects) together with starts of stories and cast-off beginnings that may never be united with the endings he finds so difficult to write. Rebecca, however, has captivated him: he knows he’ll have to tell his best story ever to keep her there.

Delightfully light of touch, this is a sweet tale of a quest for happiness and a humorous spin on an unlikely male Shehezerade, Berlin-bred, and his marvellous power of storytelling.

about the author

Jakob Hein was born in Leipzig in 1971. He grew up in Berlin where he lives today as a practicing doctor together with his wife and two sons. His books have been translated into seven languages.

rights information

Piper Verlag
Georgenstr. 4
80799 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 89 30 18 01 26
Email: sven.diedrich@piper.de
Contact: Sven Diedrich
www.piper.de 

Piper Verlag was founded by Reinhard Piper in 1904. The firm published many leading contemporary authors, a tradition followed by the founder’s son and grandson. After 1945 the programme expanded to include philosophy and non-fiction. Piper Verlag now includes the imprints Malik, Nordiska and Piper Fantasy, and has been part of the Swedish group Bonnier since 1995. Authors include Ingeborg Bachmann, Hape Kerkeling, Annette Pehnt, Gaby Hauptmann, Jakob Hein, Claudia Schreiber and Robert Löhr.

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