THE TIN DRUM BY GUNTER GRASS~1962 HCWJ

The Tin Drum, one of the great novels of the twentieth century, was first published in 1959. It became a runaway bestseller and catapulted its young author, Günter Grass, to the forefront of world literature. Grass created Oskar, the unreliable narrator, yet the story he tells reveals fundamental truths about human nature: about love and betrayal, ecstasy and fear. Moreover, the story is so intense, so moving, in a sense so miraculous, the reader wants to believe it, even knowing that it comes from a delusional man who describes physically impossible events. Oskar is a mentally disturbed man whose story can't be trusted, but who suffered through tragic events that would drive anyone mad, and who arrived at a better understanding of life than most "sane" people will ever know. Günter Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999.