Mario and the Magician

Mario and the Magician

& other stories

Summary

Mann’s short stories explore his abiding interest in the split nature of humanity and the discordance of the world it inhabits. In ‘A Man and his Dog’, domestic tempests are symbols of the muddle of humanity. In ‘The Black Swan’, the demands of intellect clash with physical desires. And in ‘Mario and the Magician’ a young family on holiday in Italy encounters a creepy entertainer: Cipolla, a hypnotist with a fascist-like will to control his audience.

Written between 1918 and 1953, this collection shows the literary development of one of Germany’s most important writers.

Reviews

  • The greatest German novelist of the 20th century
    Spectator

About the author

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His first major novel, Buddenbrooks, had sold over a million copies in Germany alone before it was banned and burned by Hitler.
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