A Trip to Klagenfurt

the long version

"The great Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann died in Rome but was buried in Klagenfurt, the city of her childhood. Only days later, Uwe Johnson made a pilgrimage to her grave site and to Klagenfurt itself, which Bachmann had always promised to show him. Johnson re-creates her presence by layering the cultural, physical, and historical landscape of the city - from its picturesque lake and totemic dragon to a personal visit from Hitler during Bachmann's childhood - with Bachmann's letters, interviews, and published writings. The result is a biographical montage that explores the vast forces behind a single extraordinary life. A Trip to Klagenfurt illuminates the writers' friendship as well as Johnson's entire generation."--BOOK JACKET.