Sasa Stanisic - Before the Feast

Right at the front: Frau Kranz — we recognize her by her easel — with a tiny movement, the only movement, in her right arm.

And then Zieschke bangs his beer bottle on the auctioneer’s desk, and the auction begins. Who’ll bid me ten?

We are glad that Anna probably won’t be burnt. Standing by the bonfire, she raises a burning brand in the air and bids ten euros, but we outbid her, we bid twelve.

MY THANKS TO

Christine Marth, Martin Mittelmeier, Maria Motter, Thomas Pletzinger and Katja Sämann for their perception, wit, investigative talent, encouragement, and all their support for my work on this book.

MY THANKS TO

the inhabitants of Fürstenberg, Fürstenfelde, Fürstenwalde, Fürstenwerder and Prenzlau for their information and hospitality, and also to their respective museums and associations of local history for the historical insights. Their church registers and chronicles, and the accounts by Lieselott Enders of the history of the Uckermark, have been important sources for the present text.

WINNER OF THE 2014 LEIPZIG BOOK FAIR PRIZE

“A village in the Uckermark, fully in the present, yet rife with legends.

In Before the Feast , this village tells its own story — a novel as a

compelling multi-voiced chorale put in prose.”

— Leipzig Book Fair Prize Jury

“A book like few others. Politically well-versed and

stylistically a work of art.”

— Die Zeit

“Highly entertaining and full of chutzpah.”

— Die Welt

“Switching among styles with a dancing virtuosity, Staniši

knits a dozen characters into a multi-stranded tissue of gossip, myth,

and memory. . In English, Staniši makes a dream team with

Anthea Bell, who translates with a pitch-perfect ear for

every twist and frisk of his German.”

— The Independent

“Episodic, impressionistic and whimsical. . clever and funny.”

— TIBOR FISCHER, The Guardian

PRAISE FOR How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone

“I love this book. It’s funny and it’s heartfelt and it’s brazen and

it’s true. Find some space on your shelf beside Aleksandar Hemon,

Jonathan Safran Foer, William Vollmann, and David Foster Wallace.”

— COLUM McCANN, author of Let the Great World Spin ,

winner of the National Book Award

“Staniši is an exceptionally talented, impish and caring writer

who has walked the edge of the abyss. One hopes that he will

continue to grapple with the paradoxes intrinsic to the human

condition and tell many more empathic, revealing and imaginative

stories full of cathartic laughter and feeling.”

— Los Angeles Times

“Madcap flights of invention and comic exaggeration clash movingly

with the painfully real chronicle of terror, loss, and exile at the story’s

heart. . How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone bears witness to

this horror with tragicomic intensity, reflecting the possibilities and

limitations of fiction in the face of atrocity.”

— Bookforum

“Beyond succeeding as a compelling fictional account of the very real

tragedy of a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina, [ How the Soldier Repairs the

Gramophone ] is also testament to the power of the imagination — and

its limitations. . Staniši ’s tale will remain exceptional: A gifted

storyteller, he’s able to translate unspeakably gruesome history into

something poignant and hauntingly beautiful.”

— Village Voice

© KATJA SÄMANN

SAŠA STANIŠI was born in 1978 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and currently lives in Germany. His award-winning debut How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone has been translated into 32 languages. Before the Feast was a bestseller in Germany and won the prestigious Leipzig Book Fair Prize.