There Is Only Art, Love and Death. In Between, Nothing

As a critic, novelist and poet, Horst Bienek was a seminal figure on the cultural scene of his time. For forty years, he wrote a radically frank artist’s journal, detailing the social panorama of the time and his very personal life. ‘For the first time, there’s a generation that talks about their homosexuality honestly, just like straight people have done for a long time.’ Bienek’s diaries read like an autobiographical novel. He writes passionately about literature, art and music, as well as his forays into the gay scene, charting his lust for life and disappointments. He met all the major figures of his era from Borges to Yourcenar and encountered protagonists of post-war literature from Reich-Ranicki to Joachim Kaiser, Bachmann and Frisch. A wild, picaresque epic by a tortured soul. Sometimes self-pitying, at others merciless, his scorn targets all those who tried to make out they were greater than they were. Time and again, however, his vulnerable, compassionate side is revealed.