Jenny Erpenbeck knows exactly where to apply pressure for maximal effect. This collection is an astounding demonstration of intellect shot through with wisdom, insights gathered over a lifetime of deep engagement with art, country, family, and the vagaries of time. Those moments of clarity that are always absconding? Erpenbeck has gathered them all here, made the impermanent permanent with her words (stunningly translated by Kurt Beals).
Things That Disappear by Jenny Erpenbeck, (List Price: $15.95, New Directions, 9780811238113, October 2025)
Reviewed by Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama