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My Red Heaven

A Novel
4.18 goodreads logo

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( 73 ratings, 15 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Set on a single day in 1927 Berlin, My Red Heaven intertwines the lives of historic figures such as Robert Musil, Otto Dix, Werner Heisenberg, and Vladimir Nabokov with those of lesser-known characters including a sommelier, a murderer, and several ghosts. Inspired by Otto Freundlich's painting, the novel captures a pivotal moment marked by the rise of deadly populism amid an atmosphere of artistic and scientific innovation, exploring the tension between possibility and foreboding in history.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This historical fiction is suited for readers interested in experimental narrative forms, 20th-century European history, avant-garde art, and complex explorations of cultural and political change.

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Astounding and impressionistic, My Red Heaven imagines the intersection of historic figures - artists, actors, physicists, and autocrats - on a single day in Berlin, 1927.

• Extensive author tour, including US appearances in Utah, Colorado, California, Idaho, and Washington, and international events in Berlin • Course adoption push and promotion through university reading series • Author appearance at AWP, &NOW, Utah Humanities Book Festival, and other conferences • Outreach to local publications and places where the author has connections, including Salt Lake City Weekly, Salt Lake City Tribune, Quarterly West, Berlin Journal, and Western Humanities Review • Targeted galley mailing to author’s local bookstores: The King’ English, Weller Book Works, Ken Sanders Rare Books, and University of Utah Campus Bookstore • Mass Galley Mailing • Review outreach to places where the author has published and publications that regularly cover Dzanc titles: Heavy Feather Review, DIAGRAM, American Book Review, Literary Hub, Brooklyn Rail, Entropy, Fiction Advocate, Black Warrior Review, Rain Taxi, The Quarterly Conversation, Electronic Book Review, BOMB Magazine, Fiction International, Slug, 15 Bytes and more • Awards push, including American Book Awards, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, Pulitzer, Philip K. Dick Award • Promotion via author website • Egalleys available on Edelweiss

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Set on a single day in 1927, My Red Heaven imagines a host of characters—some historic, some invented—crossing paths on the streets of Berlin. The subjects include Robert Musil, Otto Dix, Werner Heisenberg, Anita Berber, Vladimir Nabokov, Käthe Kollwitz, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Rosa Luxemburg, as well as others history has forgotten: a sommelier, a murderer, a prostitute, a pickpocket, and several ghosts.

Drawing inspiration from Otto Freundlich's painting by the same name, My Red Heaven explores a complex moment in history: the rise of deadly populism at a time when everything seemed possible and the future unimaginable.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Kirkus Reviews praises the novel as "both experimental and accessible—and thoroughly moving," highlighting Olsen's skill in blending diverse styles without losing sight of history’s greater tragedies. Publishers Weekly calls it a "meditation on a specific moment in history and the human condition" that transcends cultural and temporal boundaries. Vol. 1 Brooklyn describes the work as "innovative, unpredictable, and revelatory," while noting Olsen's precise prose vividly captures the energy of avant-garde art amid looming political uncertainty.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781950539031

Publisher: Dzanc Books

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 February 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Dzanc Books

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 228.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 200

About the Author

LANCE OLSEN is author of more than 25 books of and about innovative writing, including, most recently, the novel Dreamlives of Debris. His short stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies, such as Conjunctions, Black Warrior Review, Fiction International, BOMB, McSweeney's, and Best American Non-Required Reading. A Guggenheim, Berlin Prize, D.A.A.D. Artist-in-Berlin Residency, N.E.A. Fellowship, and Pushcart Prize recipient, as well as a Fulbright Scholar, he teaches experimental narrative theory and practice at the University of Utah, where he directs the creative writing program.

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