A “creatively captivating and intellectually challenging” existential mystery from the great Polish author—“sly, funny, and … lovingly translated” (The New York Times).

Winner of the 1967 International Prize for Literature

Milan Kundera called Witold Gombrowicz “one of the great novelists of our century. ” Now his most famous novel, Cosmos, is available in a critically acclaimed translation by the award-winning translator Danuta Borchardt.

Cosmos is a metaphysical noir thriller narrated by Witold, a seedy, pathetic, and witty student, who is charming and appalling by turns. In need of a quiet place to study, Witold and his melancholy friend Fuks head to a boarding house in the mountains. Along the way, they discover a dead bird hanging from a string. Is this a strange but meaningless occurrence or is it the first clue to a sinister mystery?

As the young men become embroiled in the Chekhovian travails of the family that runs the boarding house, Grombrowicz creates a gripping narrative where the reader questions who is sane and who is safe.

“Probably the most important 20th-century novelist most Western readers have never heard of. ” —Benjamin Paloff, Words Without Borders

© 2011 Grove Press (Ebook): 9780802195265

Release date

Ebook: 1 November 2011