How to place the mysterious Swiss writer Robert Walser, a humble genius who possessed one of the most elusive and surprising sensibilities in modern literature? Walser is many things: a Paul Klee in words, maker of droll, whimsical, tender, and heartbreaking verbal artifacts; an inspiration to such very different writers as Kafka and W.G. Sebald; an amalgam, as Susan Sontag suggests in her preface to this volume, of Stevie Smith and Samuel Beckett.

This collection gathers forty-two of Walser's stories. Encompassing everything from journal entries, notes on literature, and biographical sketches to anecdotes, fables, and visions, it is an ideal introduction to this fascinating writer of whom Hermann Hesse famously declared, "If he had a hundred thousand readers, the world would be a better place."

Response to a Request

Flower Days

Trousers

Two Strange Stories

Balloon Journey

Kleist in Thum

The Job Application

The Boat

A Little Ramble

Helbling's Story

The Little Berliner

Nervous

The Walk

So! "I've Got You"

Nothing at All

Kienast

Poests

Frau Wilke

The Street

Snowdrops

Winter

The She-Owl

Knocking

Titus

Vladimir

Parisian Newspapers

The Monkey

Dostoevsky's Idiot

Am I Dreaming?

The Little Tree

Stork and Porcupine

A Contribution to the Celebration of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer

A Sort of Speech

A Letter to Therese Breitbach

A Village Tale

The Aviator

The Pimp

Masters and Workers

Essay on Freedom

A Biedermeier Story

The Honeymoon

Thoughts on Cezanne