One of Publishers Weekly’s Ten Best Books of the Year Christian Kracht's Imperium uses the outlandish details of August Engelhardt's life to craft a fable about the allure of extremism and its fundamental foolishness. Playing with the tropes of classic adventure tales like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, Kracht's novel, an international bestseller, is funny, bizarre, shocking, and poignant—sometimes all on the same page. “[A] strange, engrossing tale, by turns slapstick, philosophical, and suspenseful.” —Publishers Weekly |