Moss

An aging botanist reflects on his life and work, realizing that his scientific classification has led him astray from the secrets of the natural world. As he disintegrates into moss, he gains a profound understanding of life's meaning and his own mortality. Moss is a visionary and poetic exploration of human desires for transcendence and connection, and a testament to our relationship with nature.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 10 September 2020
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press

An aging botanist retires to the seclusion of his family's vacation home in the German countryside. In his final days, he realizes that his life's work of scientific classification has led him astray from the hidden secrets of the natural world. As his body slows and his mind expands, he recalls his family's escape from budding fascism in Germany, his father's need to prune and control, and his tender moments with first loves. But as his disintegration into moss begins, his fascination with botany culminates in a profound understanding of life's meaning and his own mortality.

Visionary and poetic, Moss explores our fundamental human desires for both transcendence and connection and serves as a testament to our tenuous and intimate relationship with nature.

Klaus Modick is an award-winning author and translator who has published over a dozen novels as well as short stories, essays, and poetry. His translations into German include work by William Goldman, William Gaddis, and Victor LaValle, and he has taught at Dartmouth College, Middlebury College, and several other universities in the United States, Japan, and Germany.

Moss, Modick's debut novel, is his first book to be published in English. He lives in Oldenburg, Germany.

Weight: 190g
Dimension: 127 x 189 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781942658726