Awards

• Short-listed for Man Booker International Prize 2021

Overview

Each disparate object described in this book—a Caspar David Friedrich painting, a species of tiger, a villa in Rome, a Greek love poem, an island in the Pacific—shares a common fate: it no longer exists, except as the dead end of a paper trail. Recalling the works of W. G. Sebald, Bruce Chatwin, or Rebecca Solnit, An Inventory of Losses is a beautiful evocation of twelve specific treasures that have been lost to the world forever, and, taken as a whole, opens mesmerizing new vistas of how we can think about extinction and loss.       With meticulous research and a vivid awareness of why we should care about these losses, Judith Schalansky, the acclaimed author of Atlas of Remote Islands, lets these objects speak for themselves: she ventriloquizes the tone of other sources, burrows into the language of contemporaneous accounts, and deeply interrogates the very notion of memory.

Full Product Details

9780811231411

Table of Contents

Reviews

There are essays of wry wisdom...Jackie Smith's translation shimmers, various as the damselflies. -- 4Columns It is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky's deeply engaging inventory. -- Michael Cronin - Irish Times Twelve fictional essays comprise this stunning work depicting animals, places, objects, and buildings that are lost forever... Not to be read quickly but savored and contemplated. -- Library Journal (starred) Schalansky treats each of the 12 objects cataloged in her new book with an almost religious awe, like a believer giving herself up to be inhabited by spirits. -- Los Angeles Review of Books Brilliant....an ambulatory and often playful meditation on history and forgetting. -- Kate Zambreno - New York Times Schalansky cements her reputation as a peerless chronicler of the fabulous, the faraway, and the forgotten. -- Publishers Weekly (starred) In rich, evocative, precise prose-beautifully translated from the German by Jackie Smith-Schalansky recalls these lost things and meditates on their destruction, all the while interrogating the extent to which memory-or writing-can compensate for material loss. -- Francesa Wade - The Baffler A fine example of everyone's favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller's eye for detail. -- John Self - The Guardian In each case Schalansky has alighted on fascinating material, and her delicately poetic turn of phrase is evident on every page. -- The Telegraph Instead of a requiem for what is gone, Schalansky sings a dirge for what remains. -- The White Review The translation from the German by Jackie Smith...is a triumph of subtle accuracy. -- Wall Street Journal An exploration of extinct animals and objects told through dazzling stories that question the bounds of memory and myth. -- Kirkus (starred) The most wondrous book of the year: by taking the vanished and turning it into a great piece of literature, the author has performed a magical act. -- Die Zeit A celebration of what can still be accomplished with imagination, paper. and ink. -- Anthony Doerr Exquisite. Like the hero of Joris-Karl Huysmans's novel A Rebours, who sets off for London from Paris but realizes he need go no further than the Gare du Nord, Schalansky decides to make a virtue of absence. -- Robert Macfarlane Utterly fascinating. -- Rosmarie Waldrop Disappearance may be a forlorn theme, but it has rarely been granted such reverent contemplation, or been made to feel so powerfully tangible. -- Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal Judith Schalansky's An Inventory of Losses and Maria Stepanova's In Memory of Memory are both trying to pin down echoes and build from dust. -- Audrey Wollen - Bookforum

"""There are essays of wry wisdom...Jackie Smith’s translation shimmers, various as the damselflies."" -- 4Columns ""It is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky’s deeply engaging inventory."" -- Michael Cronin - Irish Times ""Twelve fictional essays comprise this stunning work depicting animals, places, objects, and buildings that are lost forever... Not to be read quickly but savored and contemplated."" -- Library Journal (starred) ""Schalansky treats each of the 12 objects cataloged in her new book with an almost religious awe, like a believer giving herself up to be inhabited by spirits."" -- Los Angeles Review of Books ""Brilliant....an ambulatory and often playful meditation on history and forgetting."" -- Kate Zambreno - New York Times ""Schalansky cements her reputation as a peerless chronicler of the fabulous, the faraway, and the forgotten."" -- Publishers Weekly (starred) ""In rich, evocative, precise prose—beautifully translated from the German by Jackie Smith—Schalansky recalls these lost things and meditates on their destruction, all the while interrogating the extent to which memory—or writing—can compensate for material loss."" -- Francesa Wade - The Baffler ""A fine example of everyone’s favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller’s eye for detail."" -- John Self - The Guardian ""In each case Schalansky has alighted on fascinating material, and her delicately poetic turn of phrase is evident on every page."" -- The Telegraph ""Instead of a requiem for what is gone, Schalansky sings a dirge for what remains."" -- The White Review ""The translation from the German by Jackie Smith…is a triumph of subtle accuracy."" -- Wall Street Journal ""An exploration of extinct animals and objects told through dazzling stories that question the bounds of memory and myth."" -- Kirkus (starred) ""The most wondrous book of the year: by taking the vanished and turning it into a great piece of literature, the author has performed a magical act."" -- Die Zeit ""A celebration of what can still be accomplished with imagination, paper. and ink."" -- Anthony Doerr ""Exquisite. Like the hero of Joris-Karl Huysmans’s novel A Rebours, who sets off for London from Paris but realizes he need go no further than the Gare du Nord, Schalansky decides to make a virtue of absence."" -- Robert Macfarlane ""Utterly fascinating."" -- Rosmarie Waldrop ""Disappearance may be a forlorn theme, but it has rarely been granted such reverent contemplation, or been made to feel so powerfully tangible."" -- Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal ""Judith Schalansky’s An Inventory of Losses and Maria Stepanova’s In Memory of Memory are both trying to pin down echoes and build from dust."" -- Audrey Wollen - Bookforum"

A celebration of what can still be accomplished with imagination, paper. and ink.--Anthony Doerr A fine example of everyone's favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller's eye for detail.--John Self The Guardian An exploration of extinct animals and objects told through dazzling stories that question the bounds of memory and myth.-- Kirkus (starred) Brilliant....an ambulatory and often playful meditation on history and forgetting.--Kate Zambreno New York Times In each case Schalansky has alighted on fascinating material, and her delicately poetic turn of phrase is evident on every page.-- The Telegraph In rich, evocative, precise prose--beautifully translated from the German by Jackie Smith--Schalansky recalls these lost things and meditates on their destruction, all the while interrogating the extent to which memory--or writing--can compensate for material loss.--Francesa Wade The Baffler Instead of a requiem for what is gone, Schalansky sings a dirge for what remains.-- The White Review It is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky's deeply engaging inventory.--Michael Cronin Irish Times Schalansky cements her reputation as a peerless chronicler of the fabulous, the faraway, and the forgotten.-- Publishers Weekly (starred) Schalansky treats each of the 12 objects cataloged in her new book with an almost religious awe, like a believer giving herself up to be inhabited by spirits.-- Los Angeles Review of Books The most wondrous book of the year: by taking the vanished and turning it into a great piece of literature, the author has performed a magical act.-- Die Zeit The translation from the German by Jackie Smith...is a triumph of subtle accuracy.-- Wall Street Journal There are essays of wry wisdom...Jackie Smith's translation shimmers, various as the damselflies.-- 4Columns Twelve fictional essays comprise this stunning work depicting animals, places, objects, and buildings that are lost forever... Not to be read quickly but savored and contemplated.-- Library Journal (starred) Utterly fascinating.--Rosmarie Waldrop Exquisite. Like the hero of Joris-Karl Huysmans's novel A Rebours, who sets off for London from Paris but realizes he need go no further than the Gare du Nord, Schalansky decides to make a virtue of absence.--Robert Macfarlane

There are essays of wry wisdom...Jackie Smith's translation shimmers, various as the damselflies. -- 4Columns It is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky's deeply engaging inventory. -- Michael Cronin - Irish Times Twelve fictional essays comprise this stunning work depicting animals, places, objects, and buildings that are lost forever... Not to be read quickly but savored and contemplated. -- Library Journal (starred) Schalansky treats each of the 12 objects cataloged in her new book with an almost religious awe, like a believer giving herself up to be inhabited by spirits. -- Los Angeles Review of Books Brilliant....an ambulatory and often playful meditation on history and forgetting. -- Kate Zambreno - New York Times Schalansky cements her reputation as a peerless chronicler of the fabulous, the faraway, and the forgotten. -- Publishers Weekly (starred) In rich, evocative, precise prose-beautifully translated from the German by Jackie Smith-Schalansky recalls these lost things and meditates on their destruction, all the while interrogating the extent to which memory-or writing-can compensate for material loss. -- Francesa Wade - The Baffler A fine example of everyone's favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller's eye for detail. -- John Self - The Guardian In each case Schalansky has alighted on fascinating material, and her delicately poetic turn of phrase is evident on every page. -- The Telegraph Instead of a requiem for what is gone, Schalansky sings a dirge for what remains. -- The White Review The translation from the German by Jackie Smith...is a triumph of subtle accuracy. -- Wall Street Journal An exploration of extinct animals and objects told through dazzling stories that question the bounds of memory and myth. -- Kirkus (starred) The most wondrous book of the year: by taking the vanished and turning it into a great piece of literature, the author has performed a magical act. -- Die Zeit A celebration of what can still be accomplished with imagination, paper. and ink. -- Anthony Doerr Exquisite. Like the hero of Joris-Karl Huysmans's novel A Rebours, who sets off for London from Paris but realizes he need go no further than the Gare du Nord, Schalansky decides to make a virtue of absence. -- Robert Macfarlane Utterly fascinating. -- Rosmarie Waldrop

Author Information

Judith Schalansky, born in Greifswald in 1980, lives in Berlin and works as a writer, book designer, and editor (of the prestigious natural history list at Matthes und Seitz). Her books, including the international bestseller Atlas of Remote Islands and the novel The Giraffe’s Neck, have been translated into more than twenty languages. Jackie Smith is a literary translator working from German and French into English. After graduating from Cambridge University she worked as a commercial translator before dedicating herself full-time to creative and book translations. In 2015 she was selected to participate in the New Books in German ‘Emerging Translators Programme’. Her translation of an excerpt from Hans Platzgumer’s novel Am Rand (On the Edge) won the Austrian Cultural Forum London Translation Prize 2017.

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