In 1902, a radical vegetarian and nudist from Nuremberg named August Engelhardt set sail for what was then called the Bismarck Archipelago. In his first novel, internationally bestselling author Christian Krachht uses the outlandish details of Engelhardt's life to craft a fable about the allure of extremism and its fundamental foolishness.
Winner of the Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize
One of Publishers Weekly's Ten Best Books of 2015
A Huffington Post Best Fiction Book of the Year
In 1902, a radical vegetarian and nudist from Nuremberg named August Engelhardt set sail for what was then called the Bismarck Archipelago. His destination: the island of Kabakon. His goal: to establish a colony based on worship of the sun and coconuts. His malnourished body was found on the beach on Kabakon in 1919; he was forty-three years old.
In his first novel to be translated into English, internationally bestselling author Christian Kracht uses the outlandish details of Engelhardt's life to craft a fable about the allure of extremism and its fundamental foolishness. "A Melvillean masterpiece of the South Seas" (Jonathan Sturgeon, Flavorwire), Imperium is funny, bizarre, shocking, and poignant---sometimes all on the same page.
