<div>Klaus Merz is one of the most prominent, prolific, and versatile Swiss writers working today. Celebrated as a master of concise, condensed sentences, Merz brings depth and resonance to spare narratives with lyrical prose and striking images.<i>Stigmata of Bliss</i> brings together three of Merz’s critically acclaimed novellas, offering English readers the perfect introduction to his work.<br><br>Translated by Tess Lewis, the book introduces us in <i>Jacob Asleep</i> to a family marked by illness, eccentricity, and a child’s death. In<i>A Man’</i><i>s Fate</i>, a moment of inattention on a mountainous hike upends a teacher’s life and his understanding of mortality. And finally,<i>The Argentine</i> traces the fluctuations of memory and desire in a man’s journey around the world. In each novella, Merz takes readers on a profound and intimate journey and read as a whole, the works complement, enrich, and echo each other.</div>