Danilo Kiš Books In Order

Novels

The Attic (1960)
Mansarda (1962)
Psalm 44 (1962)
Garden, Ashes (1975)
The Encyclopedia of the Dead (1989)
The Hourglass (1990)

Collections

A Tomb for Boris Davidovich (1978)
The Lute and the Scars (1983)

Novellas

The Legend of the Sleepers (2018)

Non fiction

Ho*mo Poeticus (1995)
Early Sorrows (1998)

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Novellas Book Covers

The Legend of the Sleepers
(2018)

Non fiction Book Covers

Danilo Kiš Books Overview

Mansarda

Mansarda is the first novel published by the renowned Serbian author Danilo Kis 1935 1989. Written in 1960, published in 1962, and set in contemporary Belgrade, Mandarda explores the relationship of a young man, known only as Orpheus, to the art of writing; it also tracks the personal relationship among a colorful cast of characters with nicknames such as Eurydice, Mary Magdalene, Tam Tam, and Billy Wise Ass. Rich in references to music, painting, philosophy, and gastronomy, as well as literature, this bohemian Bildungsroman provides important perspectives on the evolution of Kis as a writer. It is a laboratory of techniques and the anvil of artistic ethos for Kis. In other words, as a work of art, Mansarda is at once a depiction of life in bohemian Belgrade, a register of stylistic devices and themes that would recur throughout Kis’ oeuvre, and an account of one yong man’s quest to work out one’s artistic ethos and approach to representation by balancing art, life, and text. These three aspects of Mansarda add up to an admirable first novel, indeed. John K. Cox, Translator Professor and Department Head at North Dakota State University

Garden, Ashes

‘Let us not mince words here: Danilo Kis’s Garden, Ashes is an unmitigated masterpiece, surely not just one of the best books about the Holocaust, but one of the greatest books of the past century.’ Aleksandar Hemon, from the introductionGarden, Ashes is the remarkable account of Andi Scham’s childhood during World War II, as his Jewish family traverses Eastern Europe to escape persecution. As the family moves from house to house, the novel focuses on Andi’s relationship with his father; he recounts the endless hours his father poured into the creation of his all inclusive third edition of the Bus, Ship, Rail, and Air Travel Guide, to the bizarre sermons he delivered to his befuddled family, to his eventual disappearance and assumed death at Auschwitz. Despite the apocalyptic events fueling this family’s story, Kis’s writing emphasizes the specific details of life during this period, constructing a personal account of a future artist growing up under the shadow of the Na*zis and in a world capable of containing a person as unique as his father.

The Encyclopedia of the Dead

This collection of short stories depicts human relationships, encounters, landscapes and the multitude of details that make up human life.

The Hourglass

Of all Danilo Kis’s books, HOURGLASS, the account of the final months in one man’s life before he is sent to a concentration camp, is generally considered his masterpiece. ‘A finely sustained, complex fictional performance. It is full of pain and rage and gusto and joy of living, at once side splitting and a heartbreaker’. WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD.

A Tomb for Boris Davidovich

‘Kis is one of the handful of incontestably major writers of the second half of the century…
Danilo Kis preserves the honor of literature.’ Partisan ReviewComposed of seven dark tales, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich presents variations on the theme of political and social self destruction throughout Eastern Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. The characters in these stories are caught in a world of political hypocrisy, which ultimately leads to death, their common fate. Although the stories Kis tells are based on historical events, the beauty and precision of his prose elevates these ostensibly true stories into works of literary art that transcend the politics of their time.

Ho*mo Poeticus

A unique collection of the nonfiction writings of an acclaimed Serbian novelist and essayist offers intelligent and sensitive probings of such issues as nationalism, censorship, and literature, and features probing and revealing interviews.

Early Sorrows

linked stories, tr from Serbian by Michael H. Heim