Peter Schlemihl [WorldCat Entities]

"Peter Schlemihl ist ein gewöhnlicher junger Mensch, dem aus nur allzumenschlichen Gründen etwas sehr Ungewöhnliches zustösst. Für einen nie versiegenden Geldbeutel verkauft er einem seltsamen grauen Herrn seinen Schatten. Doch ist ein Leben ohne Schatten lebenswert? Für Peter führt es in eine Welt voller Einsamkeit und ohne Liebe. Aber der Rückkauf ist nicht gestattet, es sei denn, er gibt dem Fremden nun auch seine Seele."
"Asked which book by another author he would most like to claim as his own work, Italo Calvino once said without hesitation, Adelbert von Chamisso's Peter Schlemiel. First published in 1814, this brilliant novel is not only a precursor of Poe, Kafka, and the magic realists - it is a timeless fable with a remarkably contemporary flavor. When a mysterious man in a gray coat asks Peter Schlemiel if he would sell him his shadow, that "lovely, lovely shadow" of his, he naturally thinks the man must be mad. But then the stranger makes him an offer he can't refuse. In return for his shadow, Schlemiel receives a neverending source of riches, and he is convinced he is on the road to happiness. Yet he finds that without a shadow he is rejected by society and unable to find the fulfillment of love. After a series of fantastic adventures, Peter Schlemiel realizes that he must discover a new way to give his life meaning if he is to go on in the world."