Efraim’s Book  is the sophisticated, offbeat novel about the peculiar society of post-World-II Berlin. Its hero George Efraim is a Jewish reporter who has fought for the British on the Italian front and lost both parents to Auschwitz. He returns home to Berlin in 1962 for the first time since the war to investigate the wartime disappearance of his editor’s daughter, only to begin writing a novel, which helps him “to embark on a certain arrangement of signs with the help of which I hope to chart my position.” Like the great German novels of Günter Grass and Heinrich Böll, Alfred Andersch’s  Efraim’s Book  grapples with the legacy of World War II and the Holocaust in all its horror and sad humanity. A troubling yet often humorous book, it offers a poignant account of the traumatized German state. The Efraim of the title is journalist George Efraim, who travels to his native Berlin to investigate the disappearance of a woman during World War II. His search for her eventually becomes a journey through his own past. According to LJ's reviewer, "the central characters are excellently portrayed, and there is an admirable intelligence working throughout" (LJ 11/15/70). Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ralph Manheim (1907-1992) was an American translator of German and French literature, as well as occasional works from Dutch, Polish and Hungarian. The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, a major lifetime achievement award in the field of translation, is named in honor of Manheim and his work. He won many awards in his lifetime, including a MacArthur genius grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship ,and a National Book Award. Used Book in Good Condition