In 1981, when Arno Schmidt made his post-humous debut in America, the critic Robert M. Adams found him to be a "Major European Novelist" in that he had extended the tradition of "cruel comedy" that had run from Rabelais, via Swift, to Joyce. Adams added regretfully: "He was a very great writer; we should have known his work sooner." It might have been some solace to Adams to know that the German audience, with its head start of thirty years, had not really known Schmidt either. Schmidt had early acquired a reputation for being quirky and esoteric. His frequently polemical and insular stance made it easy for him to gain opponents and hard for him to attract friends. Yet friends there were from the start, not only a small and often uncritical coterie of "fans" but also readers of sober judgment who recognized his talent, growth, and achievement. A...