Overview

"Following the sudden death of his best friend, the narrator of The executor is called to Turin to resolve the will and literary estate of this famous writer and professor. It is a considerable undertaking, as Rudolf had amassed not only a rather extensive collection of house pets (a goose, several ducks, tortoises, and a peacock - to say nothing of Caesar, the old dog), but also a voluminous library of books and research materials. Somewhere under this mountain of papers lies Rudolf's magnum opus, a work so great that the writer maintained it would be the ""world's last novel."" But the narrator has other obstacles to overcome: The trio of women Rudolf left behind - the widow, the secretary, and the lover - are all looking for something the narrator isn't sure he can give. If he had known what awaited him in Turin, would he ever have gone?"

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9780151012688

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PRAISE FOR THE CELLO PLAYER Packed into this small, powerful novel is a dazzling array of well-chiseled, colorful characters, extracted from the grand tableau of history and the author s imagination . . . The Cello Player [suggests] the writing of Milan Kundera or Vladimir Nabokov, both of whose romantic exposition and fine ironic touches resonate here. -- The New York Times Book Review Kruger s wryly delivered tale will tantalize your inner academic . . . and then win you over with its elegant storytelling. -- Entertainment Weekly

Well, a comedy of sorts - but more a tragicomedy of distrust and good intentions gone woefully wrong.Rudolf, the main character, does not even appear in the novel, for he has recently committed suicide in Turin, where he had been a prominent professor at the university. His best friend, the narrator, is appointed literary executor. Rudolf had been an intellectual and a writer, and his truculent and unmannerly personality emerges as the narrator comes into contact with three women in Rudolf's life. His wife Elsa, now lying in a coma as she dies of cancer, was a formidable intellectual in her own right (though Rudolf confessed that he found her stuff unreadable ). We also meet Eva, something of a mystery woman, whose large cache of letters the narrator discovers among the 64 cartons of voluminous papers Rudolf left behind. Finally, there's the cold and intimidating Marta, Rudolf's colleague at the University of Turin and (perhaps) his lover. The narrator is charged with sorting through and making sense of Rudolf's personal and literary legacy. What is particularly urgent is the need to discover whether Rudolf's reputed last work, The Testament, a book that was supposed to revolutionize the novel as a mode of writing, was merely a figment of his febrile imagination. Amidst the sorting process the narrator uncovers sordid information he feels might besmirch the reputation of the redoubtable Rudolf, papers he wants either to suppress or destroy. Along the way he encounters contradictions - Rudolf's hidden rooftop menagerie, for example, where Rudolf was able to indulge his lavish love of animals, stands in contradiction to his prickly relationships with human beings. By the time the narrator gets to the 64th carton, he discovers that he has unwittingly destroyed papers that would have upheld Rudolf's formidable artistic reputation.A bit intellectual and rarefied, much like Rudolf's work is reputed to be. (Kirkus Reviews)

PRAISE FOR THE CELLO PLAYER <br> Packed into this small, powerful novel is a dazzling array of well-chiseled, colorful characters, extracted from the grand tableau of history and the author's imagination . . . The Cello Player [suggests] the writing of Milan Kundera or Vladimir Nabokov, both of whose romantic exposition and fine ironic touches resonate here. -- The New York Times Book Review <br> Kruger's wryly delivered tale will tantalize your inner academic . . . and then win you over with its elegant storytelling. -- Entertainment Weekly

PRAISE FOR THE CELLO PLAYER <br><br> Packed into this small, powerful novel is a dazzling array of well-chiseled, colorful characters, extracted from the grand tableau of history and the author's imagination . . . The Cello Player [suggests] the writing of Milan Kundera or Vladimir Nabokov, both of whose romantic exposition and fine ironic touches resonate here. -- The New York Times Book Review <br><br> Kruger's wryly delivered tale will tantalize your inner academic . . . and then win you over with its elegant storytelling. -- Entertainment Weekly

Author Information

Michael Kruger's successful career as a poet and novelist has been paralleled by his long and distinguished record as head of the German publishing house Hanser Verlag and editor of the influential journal Akzente. He is a recipient of the Mörike Prize, one of Germany's most prestigious awards, in recognition of his contribution to both sides of the trade.

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