Exit: A Romanian Story

by Richard Wagner, Q. Hoare (Translator)

In the oppressive world of Ceausescu's Romania, Richard Wagner's narrative unfolds, set and focused on the eve of the Christmas revolution. Stirner, an ethnic German and journalist in Timisoara, the town that sparked the revolution, finds his work futile as the Party controls all information and no one reads the papers. His wife, a German teacher, faces scrutiny for her classes, even words like 'salt', 'duck', and 'apricot' are suspect. Facing endless humiliation, Stirner and his wife seek an exit visa. Wagner's stark prose and meticulous detail capture the absurdities, betrayals, and claustrophobia of daily life under one of Europe's last dictatorships. Wagner later reflects on life's changes in Timisoara since the revolution.

111 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Richard Wagner (born April 10, 1952) is a Romanian-born German novelist. He has published a number of short stories, novels and essays.
A member of Romania's German minority, like his former wife, Herta Müller, he studied German and Romanian literature at Timişoara University. He then worked as a German language school teacher and as a journalist, and published poetry and short stories in German. He was also a member of Aktionsgruppe Banat, a German-speaking literary society.
In 1987, Wagner and Müller left Romania for West Berlin, to escape communist oppression and censorship in Nicolae Ceauşescu's Romania. He still lives in Berlin.
(Wikipedia)