Jakob Wassermann was one of the most prolific, widely read and translated German writers in the early decades of the twentieth century. He was a popular lecturer in Europe and the United States, particularly during the 1920s, and he counted Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Thomas Mann among his friends and supporters. Known primarily as a novelist, he also authored essays, dramas, biographies and autobiographical works, publishing over fifty volumes altogether. After his death, Wasserman’s works suffered a precipitous loss of popularity from which they have never fully recovered. Reasons for this loss include both uneven quality due to haste and lack of careful editing, as well as overblown sensationalism and occasional heavy-handed symbolism or didacticism that strike…
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Citation: Saur, Pamela S.. "Jakob Wassermann". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12078, accessed 23 November 2024.]
