Written in 1929, Buchmendel tells the tragic story of an eccentric antiquarian bookseller who spends his days sitting always at the same table at one of the many cafes in the city of Vienna. With his encyclopedic memory, the Russian Jewish immigrant is not only tolerated but loved and admired by the cafe owner Gluck and educated clientele requiring their services. However, in 1915 Jakob Mendel is sent to a concentration camp, unjustly accused of collaborating with the enemies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A brief and brilliant story about exclusion in Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.
