Daniel Kehlmann

Daniel Kehlmann
Kehlmann in 2023
Kehlmann in 2023
Born (1975-01-13) 13 January 1975 (age 49)
Munich, West Germany
OccupationWriter
NationalityGerman, Austrian
Notable works
Website
www.kehlmann.com

Daniel Kehlmann (German: [ˈdaːni̯eːl ˈkeːlman, -ni̯ɛl -] ⓘ; born 13 January 1975) is a German-language novelist and playwright of both Austrian and German nationality.[1]

His novel Die Vermessung der Welt (translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway as Measuring the World, 2006) is the best selling book in the German language since Patrick Süskind's Perfume was released in 1985. In an ironic way, it deals with Alexander von Humboldt, one of the world's best-known naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, and Humboldt's relationship with the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.[2] According to The New York Times, it was the world's second-best selling novel in 2006.[3]

All his subsequent novels reached the number one spot on Germany's Spiegel bestseller list and were translated into English. He collaborated with Jonathan Franzen and Paul Reitter on Franzen's 2013 book The Kraus Project. Kehlmann's play The Mentor, translated by Christopher Hampton, opened at Theatre Royal, Bath, in April 2017 starring F. Murray Abraham and transferred to the London West End in July 2017.[4] In October 2017, his play Christmas Eve, also translated by Christopher Hampton, premiered at the Theatre Royal.[5] His novella You Should Have Left (2016) was adapted into a movie starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried.[6] Kehlmann's highly praised novel Tyll (2017), which sold more than 600,000 copies in German alone[7] and was published in the US in February 2020,[8] is currently being adapted into a TV series for Netflix by the makers of Dark.[9] The novel was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. Kehlmann's play Die Reise der Verlorenen was adapted for BBC radio by Tom Stoppard under the title The Voyage of the St. Louis.

  1. ^ Interview with Kehlmann in the Tagesspiegel.
  2. ^ Daum, Andreas (2019). Alexander von Humboldt. Munich: C. H. Beck. p. 58. ISBN 978-3-406-73436-6.
  3. ^ Hoffman, Jascha. "DATA; COMPARATIVE LITERATURE". query.nytimes.com.
  4. ^ "The Mentor to transfer to the West End – WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. 18 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Niamh Cusack and Patrick Baladi to star in Christmas Eve – WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. 21 September 2017.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (7 June 2018). "Amanda Seyfried Joins Kevin Bacon Thriller 'You Should Have Left'". Variety.
  7. ^ GmbH, DWDL de. ""Dark"-Macher verfilmen Kehlmann-Roman "Tyll" als Serie". DWDL.de (in German). Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann: 9781524747466 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Today at Frankfurter Buchmesse: Netflix's Kelly Luegenbiehl's CEO Talk". Publishing Perspectives. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.