The Wilkomirski Affair: A Study in Biographical Truth |
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Stefan Maechler, Stefan Machler
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Pages: 512 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0805211357
Pub: Schocken Books
Pub date: 2001-04
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 152509
Reader Reviews:
in depth study of the Wilkomirski affair (9/10 people found this helpful)
In 1995 a slender volume of Holocaust memoir, written by an unknown writer named Benjamin Wilkomirski an entitled "Fragments: Memories of a childhood 1939 - 45 was released. The text gained international acclaim and garnered literary awards for its author. Then in 1998 a Swiss journalist reveal the text and its author to be a fraud - a claim Wilkomirski hotly denied. Maechler's job was to sort fact from fiction, to assess the authenticity of Wilkomirski's claims and to settle the question of wether or not Wilkomirski was a survivor of Majdanek and Auschwitz. Maechler's text outlines in detail both the history that Wilkomirski claims for himself and the history of the publication of his text. He then thoroughly wieghs the evidence against Wilkomirski and in the concludary section of his text, offers valuable insight not only into the nature of the fraud that Wilkomirski perpetuated but also of the audience's reception of his story. The piece is, in its own right, very readable and Maechler's clarity of thought, tone and structure allows the many twists and turns of this story to emerge within the narrative of his own investigation. Maechler's study also includes the text of "Fragments" (the text itself having been withdrawn from publication) which gives the reader the opportunity to assess the book for themselves. A valuable and insightful study that will be of interest to anyone who is curious about the nature of contemporary Holocaust memory or is simply fascinated by literary deceptions.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Poetry, Drama & Criticism -> History & Criticism
Books -> Subjects -> History -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Study Books -> Undergraduate & Postgraduate -> Arts & Humanities -> Literature & Drama -> Drama -> Criticism
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
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