Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

You are a human animal.

You are a very special breed.

Or you are the only animal.

Who can think, who can reason, who can read.

From KCRW, Santa Monica, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and this is Bookworm.

When I came to New York City to attend the Penn Festival of International Voices,

I was very happy that there was a tribute session to Robert Falser.

Now, I don't know.

I think that many people do know of Falser, but many people do not.

He was a writer who was an influence on Kafka. He was very much admired

by Hesse. He had a profound effect on Robert Musil. And we've been seeing Valser being translated

into English, gradually, gradually,

and each time with greater excitement because he turns into a still more surprising and unusual figure.

My guests today are Susan Bernowski, who has translated three books so far of Valser.

Those are the robber, masquerade, and most recently the assistant.

The assistant has been published by New Directions.

At the event, there were writers reading the works

of Valser, and two of those writers are with me today, Debbie Eisenberg, whose most recent book

of stories is Twilight of the Superheroes. It's published by Farras, Drowse, and Cheru,

and Wayne Kestenbaum, whose most recent book is Hotel Theory,

published by Soft Skull.

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