Things That Disappear

From the 2024 winner of the International Booker Prize, a collection of short essays on the places, people, rituals and objects that slip into the realm of memory.

In this fascinating collection, Jenny Erpenbeck meditates on the disappearance and impermanence of things. Whether recalling the demolition of familiar places, the loss of a friendship, or a change in social attitudes, Erpenbeck’s sharp intelligence, eye for telling detail, and her nuanced perspective on her country’s history and her own writing lifeimbue these short pieces with lasting power.