“Here they come, the evil sisters from the East, the well-educated girls who took piano lessons at home, who know Faust’s final monologue by heart, and they stuff the West into their pockets.“

Jenny Erpenbeck recalls a childhood spent on the dead-end streets of East Berlin.

We’re out until January 5, but we’re re-posting some of our favorite pieces from 2014 while we’re away. We hope you enjoy—and have a happy New Year! * A childhood in incompletion.
What was I doing the night the Wall fell? I spent the evening with f…

A childhood in incompletion.
What was I doing the night the Wall fell? I spent the evening with friends just a few blocks from the spot where history was being made, and then: I went to bed. I slept right through it. And while I slept the pot wasn’…