The Cannibal

John Hawkes is a master of allusion and sordid subtleties. In *The Cannibal*, Hawkes' apocalyptic vision of post-war Germany attacks the reader in the form of an ever-deepening chill. Readers of Gunter Grass's *The Tin Drum* will find an interesting parallel here in Hawkes' sterile world. This man is one of the greatest, most difficult writers of the twentieth century. I also highly recommend *The Lime Twig.*