A GERMAN AFFAIR

by Theodore Weesner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 1976

A one-bit second novel, after the auspicious The Car Thief (1972), deals immediately--though not ultimately--with the sexual initiation of Billy Kohl, an American youngster in Germany during the occupation. Thus Billy makes the transitions from the fantasy-memory of the girl in his head--his dead sister--to a whore, to a woman, the considerably older Ursula. At first, between the schnitzel and the schnapps in a restaurant, Billy gets sitting-down-drunk and Ursula disappears. But there are further meetings in transient rooms--unappeasable arousal and the all too itemized satisfaction thereof. Finally a coda lends a little more dimension to Billy and the German affair, but the book has forfeited the sympathy of Weesner's first novel. On the one hand, there's his apparent honesty; on the other, the callowness of youthful sex; and in between the constant use of ""Cherman"" English, the vees and vyes and rills which are more disturbing to the eye than the ear.

Pub Date: Jan. 7, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1976

Categories: FICTION