Nobel Prize winner Heinrich BAll's powerful novel about a woman terrorized by the media In an era in which journalists will stop at nothing to break a story, Henrich BAll's "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" has taken on heightened relevance. A young woman's association with a hunted man makes her the target of a journalist determined to grab headlines by portraying her as an evil woman. As the attacks on her escalate and she becomes the victim of anonymous threats, Katharina sees only one way out of her nightmare. Turning the mystery genre on its head, the novel begins with the confession of a crime, drawing the reader into a web of sensationalism, character assassination, and the unavoidable eruption of violence.

海因里希•伯尔（1917-1985）,德国当代小说家,1972年诺贝尔文学奖获得者,是战后德国最重要、最多产的作家之一。他出生于科隆的一个天主教家庭,中学毕业后在波恩的一家书店当学徒,1939年入科隆大学学习日耳曼文学和古典哲学,不久即被征召入伍,经历了六年的战争生活。伯尔在战争中多次负伤,并被关入美军战俘营数月,这些经历深刻地影响了他日后的创作。战后,他一边当木匠和统计员,一边继续在科隆大学深造,并开始发表作品。

伯尔的早期作品多以战争为题材,表达他对战争的厌恶和痛恨,如《火车正点》《亚当,你到过哪儿？》及不少短篇小说。20世纪50年代后,他的视野扩展到更广阔的社会,以生动细致的笔触,描绘了形形色色的小人物,通过他们的遭遇和命运,批判和揭露社会的不公,他也因此被称为“德国文学的良心”。这一时期的重要作品有《一声没吭》《无主之家》《小丑之见》《莱尼和他们》《丧失了名誉的卡塔琳娜•勃罗姆》和《保护网下》等。

伯尔曾获包括毕希纳奖和诺贝尔奖在内的多个重要奖项,并担任国际笔会主席数年。