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288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 9, 2016
Time has passed since you were with us. Now there's something to tell again. Now the trapper is here.The titular story "Fallensteller" takes place in Fürstenfelde, the setting for Stanišić's previous novel Vor dem Fest. In that easily recognisable mischievous collective narrative tone, the story now tells of the arrival of a strange man in Fürstenfelde, which has meanwhile become a place of pilgrimage for literary tourists (since the success of Stanišić's novel – yes, I love that Stanišić breaks the fourth wall; and yes, I love how meta everything is). The stranger turns out to be a kind of mythical revenant of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who promises to free the townspeople from many a plague and animals from flies to wild boars. However, the trapper turns out not to be a mischief-maker, but a "shaman" who speaks in rhyme and does all sorts of good.