Die toten Männer

A man is tired. His life repulses him, along with everything that ties him to it: his wife, daughter, and even his successful work as the owner of the largest bookstore in the country. He feels no hatred, only disgust and complete apathy. For now, the necessary effort to continue balances with the courage to simply stop. But everything pushes him toward a decision. "I remained with myself, a sinister place where I could not be and from which I could not escape," Augustine writes about that weariness, which ultimately becomes a danger to others as well. With precise coldness, Lukas Bärfuss describes in his gripping novella how the spiral of corruption continues to turn and heat up.

Author's note:
Lukas Bärfuss, born in 1971, lives in Zurich. His plays are performed on major stages in Germany and Switzerland. The novella "The Dead Men" is his prose debut.

Awards and Honors:
2005 Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis
Gerrit Engelke Literature Prize from the City of Hanover
2002 Cultural Award from the City of Zurich (Recognition Grant)
Literary Award from the City of Bern
Cultural Prize from the City of Thun
ZKB Promotion Prize for the play: Medea.
Scholarship from the Lydia Eymann Foundation, Langenthal.