Tod in Turin

JAN BRANDT
TOD IN TURIN/ DEATH IN TURIN
300 pages
Spring 2015


“During our first meeting, Jan Brandt was silent most of the time. The only question he asked me was whether I felt confident enough to publish his books.” Sabine Cramer, Publisher

“Normally I protect our authors from journalists. In Jan Brandt’s case, it’s the opposite.”
Julia Giordano, Head of Press Office

“He kept coming back with new ideas. Even when the novel had long been published. He asked me to do things that no layout programme in the world could possibly implement.” Peter Kainrath, Production

“He rang us almost every day to check the sales figures of GEGEN DIE WELT. He even came by personally. “ Imke Schuster, Head of Sales

“I have dealt with a lot of writers in my time, but none of them were as difficult as he was.”
Kathrin Lemmen, Assistant to the Publisher

“I was really happy when he finally went on a reading tour and wasn’t hanging around the office all day anymore.” Linda Marie Schulhof, Readings

“I thought the translation into Italian would be good for him and that an invitation to Turin might teach him modesty and humility. I was wrong.” Judith Habermas, Foreign Rights

“When he called me from Italy and enthusiastically told me that he was sitting in the hotel, working on an extensive autobiographical text with the title DEATH IN TURIN, and that he had written more than a hundred pages within a few hours, I hoped that he would never finish it.” Martin Kordic, Editor

“All world-famous German writers wrote about their Italian journeys” Jan Brandt

Autofiction, industry report, travelogue
Not a novel, not nine hundred pages long – a trip of self-discovery without return

Jan Brandt spends a weekend at the book fair in Turin. In his luggage, a copy of his novel Gegen die Welt, translated into Italian. In three days, he experiences more than he would normally in a month. The result – this book.

“I was in heaven. I saw the Alps from above, the snow covered mountaintops. I started out in Germany and landed in another world. I met my alter ego. I am a different person. I set off on a pilgrimage and missed my target by a year. I hovered over the precipice, but did not take the deciding step forward. I saw outrageously lightly clad women, but only on television. I photographed nudes and set off an alarm. I now know what unfuckable means, and ever since have wished I didn’t. I have cried tears of happiness, even if only briefly. And now that I am back, everything I experienced seems like a dream.”

Jan Brandt born in 1974 in Leer (East Friesland), he studied history and literature in Cologne, London and Berlin and attended the Deutsche Journalistenschule in Munich. His novel “Gegen die Welt” was published in 2011, made it onto the short list of the Deutsche Buchpreis and won the Nicolas Born debut novel award.

Rights to Gegen die Welt sold to: Bompiani (Italian), Seagul Books (English World)