An Umbrella for Today

A novel that provides us with an entirely new perspective of reality, an experience both strange and enchanting.

There are many ways to make a living. Consider this one: in keeping with his rather distanced attitude towards the rest of the world, a man works as a test walker for luxury footwear. Strolling across town in calfskin loafers, he occasionally meets one of his many previous girlfriends and writes shoe reports for 200 marks each. But then the arrangement deteriorates. His latest girlfriend, Lisa, leaves him because she can no longer bear his refusal to take more than a quite literally passing interest in the world. And when the English shoe fee is reduced to 50 marks, our hero is in dire straits.

Since his famous Abschaffel trilogy, Wilhelm Genazino counts as one of the most important and original writers in Germany. In an inimitable, light and witty style, Genazino portrays a man who stands amazed before the "fundamental strangeness of life" and nevertheless looks for ways and means to subsist in it.

"Prose of a quality rarely found." (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

"His narratives are incredibly light and filled with a calm, sad humour." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

"There are all reasons to discover Wilhelm Genazino." (Die Zeit 9.8.2001)