"devotion" is a haunting story about the horrific struggle of losing love, and how the mind reels with thought. the main character, Richard is completely distraught about losing his girlfriend, Hannah (referred to as "H"). He is not sure why she has left, which hurls him into a deep pit of depression and confusion, causing him to detach himself from the rest of the world. He quits his job, stops bathing, and becomes completely obsessed with writing about his hopes and fears about "H", which he is sure she will someday read. The one thing that keeps him going is his certainty of her return to him. It is sometimes hard to differentiate whether the true author, Strauss, or the character, Richard, is writing at a specific time. It may take a few times reading the same page to follow what's going on, but it's well worth it! This is one book that will definetly keep your mind working...

A reviewer on the back cover compared this novel to "a sculpture by Giacometti -- clean, pared-down, and without a shred of unnecessary flesh." It is small, but *dense*. Several parts of this book continue to haunt my internal dialogues, although I read the book five months ago. It is really a pity the English translation of Devotion has run out of print. If the rest of his writing is this good, I'm enrolling in the next semester of courses at the Goethe Institute chiefly to read his work.

This is really the definative picture of an introvert. Better than "Notes from the Underground", better than "Steppenwolf." Believe me, Strauss is that good. After reading this book, at first I thought someone had invaded the most intimate part of my brain, now I wonder if maybe we all have these thoughts at certain times, but chose to hide them as best we can