Noah - Hugo Loetscher

As the current global recession stubbornly persists and financial
experts around the world struggle to prevent further financial collapse,
everyone has a theory about how to save the economy. But perhaps no
idea that has been proffered is as radical or as unique as what Hugo
Loetscher imagines in his novel Noah. In this book, first
published in German in 1967, the eponymous Old Testament hero fuels his
local economy with a prescient plan to build the Ark. Though no one
around him seriously believes in the coming flood, everyone is more than
willing to do business with him:
\u201cThe people of Mesopotamia had never
had it so good. There had been an economic miracle.\u201d It is boom time in
Mesopotamia, and the economy is flourishing; but as with many financial
bubbles, scandal and demise are not far out of sight.
An ancient legend
retold in light of capitalist reality, Noah is a witty, delightful and thought-provoking parable of our times. Hugo
Loetscher (1929-2009), widely known as the most cosmopolitan of Swiss
writers due to his travels and journalistic work in Latin America and
Asia, has until now been known mainly by readers in his home country,
where he has been the recipient of its most prestigious literary prize.
This attentive and engaging translation makes available to a new
audience an incredibly timely and entertaining work.