Fassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors

"The joint winner was veteran critic Ian Penman’s Fassbinder: Thousands of Mirrors, a study of the life of German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The book also won the Royal Society of Literature’s prestigious Ondaatje Prize, for its evocation of post-war Germany. The author Francis Spufford, one of the Ondaatje Prize judges, said that Penman “captures not only scenes both gross and beautiful from the 1970s life of the workaholic Fassbinder, but a glittering array of thoughts and moments from his own long fascination with Fassbinder’s place and time and historical moment.” Jan Carson, another judge, said: “It’s biography. It’s philosophy. It’s critique. It’s flighty enough to read like fiction and yet it’s one of the most grounded books I’ve read in years. Yes, it’s about German cinema, but German cinema’s simply the mirror Penman’s holding up to force his readers to look long and hard at themselves.” Hopefully there’s a book that jumps out at you from among these prize-winning biographies. Have we missed anything? Let us know by getting in touch on social media. November 6, 2024. Updated: September 28, 2025 Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected] Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you've enjoyed this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."