Too Far Afield. By Gunther Grass. ( Faber £12.99 in UK)

This huge, lively, engaging, often despairing picaresque vividly displays Grass's enduring love of, and fear for, his Germany. Two old men, Fonty, a former east German cultural advisor and one-time war correspondent, and Hoftaller, a career spy, wander through post-unification Berlin musing on what is about to happen. Germany history and literature provide most of the reference. It is a complex, dense book about change and uncertainty. Possessing much energy ands many tricks, it is a philosopher's book written by a showman, albeit a visionary one, who has never lost his love for story. A brilliant, dazzling odyssey.