A Sorrow Beyond Dreams A Life Story

The Sunday edition of the Karntner Volkszeitungcarried the following item under Local News: "In the village of A. (G. township), a housewife, aged 51, committed suicide on Friday night by taking an overdose of sleeping pills." So opens A Sorrow Beyond Dreams, the eminent Austrian novelist and playwright's reckoning with his mother's life of grinding poverty -- which spanned the rise of the Nazis, World War II, and the postwar era -- and of her ultimate suicide. Both stark and lyrical, full of love, anger, admiration, and a keen sense of history, this slim book stands in contrast to Peter Handke's other cooler, more avant-garde work. Here he is direct and powerful, and the result is the most moving and accessible work in his career. It is "indispensable" ( The Boston Globe).

Peter Handke was born in Griffen, Austria, in 1942. He is the author of many plays and novels, including The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (FSG Classics) and, most recently, Don Juan: His Own Version (FSG, 2011).