An artist’s life and a pact with the devil: this is a novel about the dangerous illusions of the silver screen
- Shortlisted
- The International Booker Prize 2020
- Published by riverrun
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In a brilliant, riotous tale full of macabre humour, Daniel Kehlmann lifts a jester legend from German folklore and puts him into the Thirty Years War
He’s a trickster, a player, a jester. His handshake’s like a pact with the devil, his smile like a crack in the clouds. On the battlefield he will run faster than cannonballs. In the courts he will trick the heads of state. As a travelling entertainer, his journey will take him across the land and into the heart of a never-ending war. Between the quests of fat counts, witch-hunters and scheming queens, Tyll dances his mocking fugue; exposing the folly of kings and the wisdom of fools.
Daniel Kehlmann
Daniel Kehlmann was born in Munich and lives in Vienna, Berlin and New York
More about Daniel Kehlmann 
Ross Benjamin
Ross Benjamin is the translator of numerous works of German-language literature
More about Ross Benjamin Other nominated books by Ross Benjamin
An artist’s life and a pact with the devil: this is a novel about the dangerous illusions of the silver screen
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