Thomas Bernhard was one of the most original writers of the twentieth century. His formal
innovation ranks with Beckett and Kafka his outrageously cantankerous voice recalls Dostoevsky
but his gift for lacerating lyrical provocative prose is incomparably his own.One of
Bernhard's most acclaimed novels The Loser centers on a fictional relationship between piano
virtuoso Glenn Gould and two of his fellow students who feel compelled to renounce their
musical ambitions in the face of Gould's incomparable genius. One commits suicide while the
other-- the obsessive witty and self-mocking narrator-- has retreated into obscurity. Written
as a monologue in one remarkable unbroken paragraph The Loser is a brilliant meditation on
success failure genius and fame.
