"Comedy in a Minor Key," by Hans Keilson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 135 pp.)
This dark comedy of manners, originally published in German in 1947, is the surprise on this list of nominees. It tells the story of a Dutch couple, Marie and Wim, who agree to hide a Jewish man during World War II and then – with much difficulty – must dispose of his body when he dies. Francine Prose, writing for The New York Times, called Keilson one of "the world's very greatest writers" and said of this novel that rarely has so "harrowing" a story has been told "with such wry, off-kilter humor, and in so quiet a whisper."
