Short stories
And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like to Meet the Milkman
Eigentlich möchte Frau Blum den Milchmann kennenlernen
Peter Bichsel · 1964
Synopsis
Twenty-one very short stories, from half a page to five pages, about the daily lives of ordinary people. In the one that gives the book its title, Frau Blum and her milkman communicate only by notes: he delivers her milk and butter, she writes to him when the bill does not come out right, and one day he replies that there is no more butter. She wonders what he is like, never having seen him; all he knows of her is her order, her handwriting and her dented saucepan. The sentences say what is, in everyday language.
Context
The collection appeared in 1964 from Walter, in Olten; it was the author's second book, after a self-published essay on a certain Gino, and it brought him international attention. Robert Rovini produced an abridged French version in 1967 from Gallimard, and Michael Hamburger an English translation the following year. An expanded edition, with variants and unpublished texts drawn from the archives, appeared in 2025, the year of the author's death.
Who it is for
In German, a slim collection of short texts. None of them concludes: their weight lies in what they leave out.
Prizes and reception
Group 47 Prize in 1965, the year after publication; translated into English, French, Danish and Italian, among other languages.
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