num_pages: 208
description: Thomas Bernhard was one of the most original writers of the twentieth century. His formal innovation ranks with Beckett and Kafka, his outrageously cantankerous voice recalls Dostoevsky, but his gift for lacerating, lyrical, provocative prose is incomparably his own.One of Bernhard's most acclaimed novels, The Loser centers on a fictional relationship between piano virtuoso Glenn Gould and two of his fellow students who feel compelled to renounce their musical ambitions in the face of Gould's incomparable genius. One commits suicide, while the other—the obsessive, witty, and self-mocking narrator—has retreated into obscurity. Written as a monologue in one remarkable unbroken paragraph, The Loser is a brilliant meditation on success, failure, genius, and fame.
language: English
title: The Loser
titlecomplete: The Loser
characters: Glenn Gould, Wertheimer
genres: 20th Century, Germany, Literary Fiction, Novels, Music, Literature, German Literature, Classics, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 9968
places: Austria
publisher: Vintage