Speculations about Jakob and other writings

"Like many writers and intellectuals of the 20th century, Uwe Johnson (1934-84) had throughout his life been in conflict with the norms of his society. Speculations about Jakob, Johnson's second novel, could not be published in 1950s East Germany, which in part prompted his move to the West. Johnson's most important work, the demanding Anniversaries tetralogy - which is excerpted in the present volume - is critical of the Vietnam War and racial segregation in the US, as well as the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Also included in this volume is a new translation of "How Anniversaries Came to Be Written" and "Trip into the Blue, 1960.""--BOOK JACKET.