Old Masters Signed First Edition Reference

Alte Meister (Suhrkamp, 1985; English: University of Chicago Press, 1992) is subtitled “A Comedy” — a characteristically Bernhardian joke, as the book is a sustained monologue of complaint by Reger, an 82-year-old music critic who sits before Tintoretto’s White-Bearded Man in the Kunsthistorisches Museum every other day and demolishes every cultural monument in existence. It is the funniest and most accessible Bernhard novel.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed German first: $150–$400
• Signed English first: $100–$300
• Unsigned English first: $15–$30

The best introduction to Bernhard for new readers — and the novel most likely to make you laugh while reading about a man who hates everything.