SOURCE: A review of Versuch über den geglückten Tag, in World Literature Today, Vol. 66, No. 4, Autumn, 1992, pp. 716-7.

In the following review, Skwara offers a positive evaluation of Versuch über den geglückten Tag.

Not one word on the dust jacket, not the merest hint tells the prospective reader what kind of book Versuch über den geglückten Tag is. There is no need, since Peter Handke presents us with his third Versuch. His two previous books, Versuch über die Müdigkeit and Versuch über die Jukebox (see WLT 64:3, p. 460, and 65:2, p. 301 respectively), have established a new dimension of literature’s realistic claim not just to describe but to change our world through the right word. In my earlier review of Versuch über die Müdigkeit I praised Handke's realization that there is no such thing as “everyday life” or “being tired” in favor of elevating fatigue...