Haus Publishing The Armchair Traveller january-june

Publisher’s Note
When visitors to our bookshop, the bookHaus, ask me not only to recommend a
good read, but to choose my ‘favourite title’, I feel like a parent forced to pick a
favourite child. How can one choose between fiction and non-fiction, between
travel and history, between engaging your brain or your heart?
The books advertised in this catalogue will hopefully do both. There are
tales of friendship and the support it offers in our darkest days: in Two Gentlemen
on the Beach we are introduced to two historical figures, both of whom had
to battle with what one of them aptly called ‘his black dog days’. There are tales
of empathy with people who we have not even met, and as this empathy breeds
generosity we have pledged to donate part of the sales receipts of Kathmandu to
Aatmiya, a charity engaged in the long-term relief of the suffering caused by the
devastating April 2015 Nepal earthquake. And, finally, there are tales of travellers
of times gone by: Mount Sinai charts the stories connected to a mountain
sacred to all the People of the Book, especially relevant now the region is once
again removed from the beaten tourist track due to security risks that would
have been familiar to many a traveller described in its pages.
We also continue with our existing series, especially our thought-provoking
Haus Curiosities. Peter Hennessy’s Reflections: Conversations With Politicians
is the best example of the art of interviewing, which evokes both deep insights
into the past as well as inspiring visions of the future. And we are starting new
ones: the Modern Arabic Classics will introduce English-language readers to
great writing by authors from the MENA region which deserve to be part of the
classics canon of Arabic literature.
When read together with our recently published titles and our ever-growing
backlist, this catalogue is further proof of what for me is the beauty of books:
they transport the reader across time and place and establish bonds worth cherishing.
So please don’t ask me to choose a favourite; just pick one and enjoy.
Barbara Haus Schwepcke
Two Gentlemen
on the Beach
Michael Köhlmeier
On the face of it, Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin – two icons of the twentieth
century – couldn’t be more different. One the statesman whose resolve led a nation in the
struggle against Nazi Germany, the other the world-famous comedian behind The Great
Dictator. But they are bound by a dark secret: both suffer from depression.
When a chance encounter reveals what they share, an unusual and unlikely friendship
ensues. A series of therapeutic meetings across the world, in Germany, England and
America, sees each become the other’s confidant as they talk of their ‘black dog days’.
With the eye of a masterfully subtle narrator, Michael Köhlmeier imagines a startling
friendship of unique understanding between this extraordinary pair; a friendship of the
twentieth century between art and politics, humour and seriousness, but which at heart
remains an understanding between two men – the poor tramp and the grand statesman –
who bring together the history of the century.
Michael Köhlmeier is an Austrian writer and musician. His works of fiction have met
with critical acclaim and his many awards include the Manès Sperber Prize for Literature
(1994) and Grimmelshausen Prize (1997).
NEW TITLE
Translated by Ruth Martin
£17.99 | FICTION
HBK, TRADE
MAY 2016
p: 978-1-910376-46-1
e: 978-1-910376-47-8
320pp
WORLD ENGLISH
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