The author and his publisher: a whole life story
Thomas Mann claimed absolute artistic freedom and “adventurous worldliness” throughout his life, but with the same persistence he proved to be a man of continuity. Barbara Hoffmeister tells the brief story of his unique lifelong connection to Samuel Fischer's publishing house. She reports on the interplay between author and publisher, on expanding and unabridged manuscripts, warlike billy-goat songs or the practice of Weimar democracy. She also reads the bare figures, describes fears and challenges, shared successes and divisive tests in a fateful personal intertwining that extends beyond the generations of children and the exile existence of the publishing house and author on different continents.
