Arnon Grunberg
The Baltimore Sun,
2004-12-19
2004-12-19, The Baltimore Sun

New Fiction


Victoria Brownworth

Who doesn't enjoy a good literary tour de force? Perhaps not the Dutch literary establishment, definitely not amused when [Marek] van der Jagt won the Netherlands' top literary prize for Baldness only to discover the author had previously won the same award under his real name, Arnon Grunberg. This wicked, dark coming-of-age story details 15-year-old Marek's search for l'amour fou despite what he calls his terrible handicap -- a very small penis. He has learned a lot from watching his lovely but promiscuous mother bed half of Vienna under her cuckolded husband's nose. Marek is quite a character: serious and silly, pursuing unattractive women in hopes of scoring, trying not to become circumspect like his father or straitened by the pursuit of money like his brothers. He is thoroughly engaging and utterly hilarious. This often morbidly funny novel leaves one eager for Grunberg's next literary gambit.