Adolf Muschg, one of the few Swiss authors to have had a major impact on German literature since Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt, is considered one of the best storytellers now writing in German. He made his literary debut at the age of thirty-one with his novel Im Sommer des Hasen: Roman (The Summer of the Hare, 1965), which received the kind of critical attention generally reserved for works of major, well-established writers. The novel was reviewed in all leading newspapers in Germany and Switzerland and became an instant best-seller, and its author, who was awarded several literary prizes for it, was hailed as an important new talent. Thus Muschg established himself in Germany, where the reputations of Swiss authors are generally made or lost, with his first work.

Muschg was born on 13 May 1934 to Friedrich Adolf and Frieda Anna Ernst Muschg in the wealthy community of...