Ghosts of Berlin

In Ghosts of Berlin, Rudolph Herzog's macabre and madcap vision of Berlin, bleeding walls are as terrifying as overpriced artisanal burgers. Set in hipster Kruezberg, chic airport lounges, and the former border between East and West Germany, the denizens of Herzog's Berlin are demon-conjuring tech bros, acid-tripping artists, and forsaken migrants, each encountering the ghosts of the city's complicated past. The collection opens with 'Tandem', in which a young language student encounters a mysterious and damaged woman with an unnerving culinary style, and continues in a style that recalls George Saunders at his most experimental and Kurt Vonnegut at his most visceral. Herzog delivers a collection at once arresting and thought-provoking, and the book's true star, Berlin, is revealed as a modern metropolis with a past that won't stay quiet.