In All the Lights, German writer Clemens Meyer turns his attention to lives unfolding on the margins of contemporary society.

Set largely in the former East Germany, these fifteen stories move between cramped apartments, bars, streets and railway lines, finding moments of tenderness, absurdity and unexpected intimacy in otherwise unforgiving surroundings. His characters speak in fractured recollections, circular monologues and conversations that reveal as much through omission as disclosure. Rather than offer explanations for their failures or consoling accounts of their suffering, Meyer allows the contradictions of ordinary life to remain visible.

Originally published in German in 2008 as Die Nacht, die Lichter, this collection established Meyer as a distinctive chronicler of post-reunification Germany. Translated by Katy Derbyshire, the stories are unsentimental without being indifferent, attentive to people who rarely find themselves at the centre of literary attention.

Edition / Condition: And Other Stories, 2025 edition. Paperback, translated by Katy Derbyshire, with an introduction by Stuart Evers. Very good condition, with light handling and minor cover wear.