Short Letter, Long Farewell is one the most inventive and exhilarating of the gr
eat Peter Handke's novels. Full of seedy noir atmospherics and boasting an air o
f generalized delirium, the book starts by introducing us to a nameless young Ge
rman who has just arrived in America, where he hopes to get over the collapse of
his marriage. No sooner has he arrived, however, than he discovers that his ex-
wife is pursuing him. He flees, she follows, and soon the couple is running circ
les around each other across the length of America-from Philadelphia to St. Loui
s to the Arizona desert, and from Portland, Oregon, to L.A. Is it love or vengea
nce that they want from each other?
