From Publishers Weekly
Fauser, a heroin addict until he kicked the habit at 30, pulls no punches in his lean, darkly comic debut crime thriller, first published in 1981 in his native Germany, where it sold more than 200,000 copies and was made into a film. German porn merchant Blum is having a tough time pushing his dated Danish skin magazines in Malta. ("Afghanis might get some satisfaction from these products, but in my view they have no artistic merit," a Pakistani porn dealer tells him.) With the Maltese police breathing down his neck, Blum seizes the chance to transport five pounds of Peruvian flake to Ostend, but he soon discovers the job is more trouble—and indeed far more dangerous—than it's worth. Part of the pleasure of following Blum's low-life adventures is the sense that they're closely based on the author's own. Bitter Lemon deserves kudos for introducing this fine German noir to an American audience. >
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About the Author
Jörg Fauser, born in 1944 in Germany, was a novelist, essayist and journalist. Having broken his dependency on heroin at the age of thirty he spent much of the rest of his working life dependent on alcohol. He nevertheless produced three highly successful novels including The Snowman and much praised essays of literary criticism. On July 16th 1987 he had been celebrating his forty third birthday. At dawn, instead of going back to his home in Munich, he wandered on to a stretch of motorway, by chance or by choice, and was struck down by a truck. He died instantly. Translator of The Snowman.
