Ferdinand, the Man with the Kind Heart

<p><b>'A great writer' Ali Smith<br><br>Newly translated by Michael Hofmann, the touching final novel from the author of <i>Child of All Nations<br></i></b><br>'I don't think I'm that unusual, and I don't think I'm crazy either'<br><br>Bombed-out Cologne after the war is a strange place to be. The black market in jam and corsets is booming, half-destroyed houses offer opportunities for stealing doors and eggcups, and de-Nazification parties are all the rage. Ferdinand - daydreamer, former prisoner of war, wearer of a curious jerkin - drifts around the city, observing life's absurdities, strenuously avoiding his fiancée and drinking brandy with his fabulous cousin. When he gets a job as a 'cheerful adviser' to those down on their luck, will Ferdinand's fortunes change too?<br>Irmgard Keun's exuberantly funny and touching final novel takes the tiny moments of triumph and defeat in one man's life, and turns them into a moving portrait of the human spirit.</p> <p><b>'A great writer' Ali Smith<br><br>Newly translated by Michael Hofmann, the touching final novel from the author of <i>Child of All Nations<br></i></b><br>'I don't think I'm that unusual, and I don't think I'm crazy either'<br><br>Bombed-out Cologne after the war is a strange place to be. The black market in jam and corsets is booming, half-destroyed houses offer opportunities for stealing doors and eggcups, and de-Nazification parties are all the rage. Ferdinand - daydreamer, former prisoner of war, wearer of a curious jerkin - drifts around the city, observing life's absurdities, strenuously avoiding his fiancée and drinking brandy with his fabulous cousin. When he gets a job as a 'cheerful adviser' to those down on their luck, will Ferdinand's fortunes change too?<br>Irmgard Keun's exuberantly funny and touching final novel takes the tiny moments of triumph and defeat in one man's life, and turns them into a moving portrait of the human spirit.</p>