Arnon Grunberg

Rich and dead

Politics

This evening I had the conversation with Maxim Biller at the Goethe-Institut in New York. It was my first time at the Goethe-Institut here in New York. The building is fairly beautiful and spacious.
When I still had my own publishing house in the Netherlands (Kasimir) – we are speaking about the early nineties I planned to publish Biller’s first collection of short stories “When I were rich and dead" (Wenn ich einmal reich und tot bin). But before I could publish it I went bankrupt. (It was later published by another publishing house.)
The conversation tonight could have gone worse. Mr. Biller was not always straightforward in his answers, and I was often too polite, but then again my job was to serve Mr. Biller this evening.
There is often just too much at stake to give honest answers. The world of literature resembles the world of politics – only less money is involved.