Tales of Berlin in American Literature up to the 21st Century

About this book

Prologue: "a smaller but more intense orchestration" -- American space -- American Berlin across three centuries -- A tale of Berlin -- How American is it -- Toy houses and playing-card lawns -- "German" roots -- Rags, riches and rooming houses -- G the great divorce -- Water crossings -- N "this is our armageddon" -- Ruined landscapes, ruined women -- Women with attachments: mermaids, drink and drowning -- City of night -- "Certain tendencies": queer berlin -- Underground berlin -- "Something was different, but nothing had changed" -- Contaminating city -- Contents -- Just off the kurfurstendamm: spy fiction -- The garden and the forest: natural space in Berlin -- The weather in Berlin -- Isolating Berlin -- Naturalizing the wall -- Escape from Berlin -- Family reunions: searching for someone in Berlin -- Women and children first: taming history -- Contemporary voices: re-storing mythologies -- Conclusion