Gunter Grass2000
His Life and Work
by Julian Preece
"Gunter Grass (1927-2015) was Germany's foremost writer for more than half a century, and his books were and remain bestsellers across the world. The Tin Drum was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1979 and the memoir Peeling the Onion in 2006 astounded readers by revealing that Grass had been drafted into the most criminal component of the Nazi war machine, the Waffen SS, in the closing months of the Second World War. He wrote memorably about the student movement, feminism and German reunification, and was a key influence on magic realist authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, as well as the popular novelist John Irving. Grass redefined the role of ̀literary commitment', campaigning as a citizen for the German Social Democrats and helping the anti-Nazi Willy Brandt...