FALLADA, Hans. Little Man, What Now?

(New York, NY): Simon and Schuster, 1933. First American edition. Octavo.  441 pages. Translated by Eric Sutton. Published the year before Hitler’s rise to power Little Man, What Now? is Fallada’s breakthrough novel about a young bookkeeper in Berlin, which captures the social, political, and economic trends in the waning years of the Weimar Republic.  The book was an immediate success in Germany where today it is considered to be a modern classic.  The novel was filmed in Germany in 1933.  A separate film adaptation was released in America in 1934.  Directed by Frank Borzage the film starred Margaret Sullavan and Douglass Montgomery, (who was the victim of a murder attempt that same year), the film was praised for clearly reflecting the situation of the young German mind during that period, especially the effects of war and the economic shut down..  A near fine copy, in a very good dust jacket with a small chip to the rear panel, light toning to spine and edges, and minor edgewear.  A very nice copy of this disarming novel: the matter-of-factness of the prose, the light-heartedness of both the characters, and often the story itself, belying a life already lived that would have undone most of us.