Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

1. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Novel by Patrick Suskind

2. Bell Ringer • Read the opening line of the novel and list on the page 3-4 things that the author is inferring that the reader will need to know prior to proceeding with the novel. For those without a book I N EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His story will be told here.

3. Patrick Suskind: the Life and story The Man himself Short Bio and facts • Born in Bavaria—or southern Germany—in 1949 in a town by Muenchen called Ambach an Starnberger. • His father, Wilhelm Emanuel Suskind, also a writer and journalist, was famous for his co-authoring of the essay collections called “From the dictionary of the Inhuman”, a work on the language of the Nazi era.

4. The Man himself Short Bio and facts • He is descended from the aristocracy of Wuertemburg, his heritage extending back as far as famous theologian and protestant reformer Johannes Brenz in 15th century. He is also related to Johan Albrecht Bengel a Greek language scholar.

5. Short Bio and facts cont. • Coming from an educated family, Suskindwas not only well-cultivated in writing but learned in Latin, Greek, Spanish, English, Politics and Theology— courses he studied at the University in Muenchen and then in France at the Aix-en-Provence from 1968-1974. • He lived and studied in Paris using his parents’ as a financial crutch. There he spent his time like any other artist in the flourishing artistic Mecca, exploring the Urban atmosphere and writing short stories and essays, as well as gaining his inspiration for the novel.

6. Other Works and Motivations • His first work which helped establish him as a breakthrough in 1981 was the play “The Double-bass”, a story of a man and his love-hate relationship with his musical instrument that portrays humanity’s own self-importance. • Other works popular in Germany are The Pigeon, and The story of Mr. Sommer, all published in the late eighties and early nineties.

7. Although he stuck mainly to the writing of novels and short stories he also wrote the screenplay for Rossini—for which he won the Screenplay prize of German Culture—and other T.V. productions. • However, his most famous work continues to be Das Parfum, or Perfume: the story of a murderer, which has been translated into 46 languages and was made into a film directed by Tom Tyker.

8. For this work he has been proclaimed the most well-known contemporary German writer; Perfume was considered the bestselling novel in Germany by Der Spiegel, a German newspaper, for nine years in a row. There are no records of him being married or ever being in any serious relationships; he has no known children and very little is known about his personal life. Today, he continues to live a reclusive life in his hometown, refusing any interviews and keeping to himself. He has no recent works and keeps quietly to himself.

9. Photos of other works