This Must Be the Place

transforming:
do not let this book pass you by...it is witty and bright, engaging and illuminating. fantastic references to the 80s, woven artfully into the newness and hipness that is berlin. one of my favorites already - by page three -

nice quaint little book:
i enjoyed this little book about berlin and the characters. as an ex-pat who frequents berlin, i enjoyed the book and the perspectives that go beyond just being a tourist.

Great work about Berlin and its contradictions...wonderful book!:
Anna Winger has produced a book that, for those of us who have lived in Berlin, brings back so many memories. For those who haven't yet experienced Berlin, it paints a picture of what an expat living in Berlin must feel like. I feel this is a must read for those who have an interest in Germany, especially Berlin. Mrs. Winger has no problem tackling issues such as the Holocaust and really draws the reader into the story. I am a high school history teacher, and I am going to recommend it to my seniors, as they never experienced the cold war. This book is excellent at discussing what the "old Berlin" was like, as well as the new. This Must Be the Place is a great first work and I am looking for more from Anna Winger!

Beautifully Interwoven Themes of Dislocation, Identity and the Inexorable Pull of History:
Hope, a dislocated New Yorker seeking escape from a recent stillbirth and the trauma of the recent destruction of 911 and Walter, a has-been actor who is half American and half German find themselves neighbors in a once elegant apartment building in Berlin. Hope has arrived in Berlin to join her husband Dave, a economist working on a project in nearby Poland. He leaves her in this foreign city for long periods of time where she knows no one and can't speak the language. Walter once famous on a German TV series spends his time dubbing Tom Cruise's voice in movies and dreams of returning to Hollywood a second time to seek his fortune. This seemingly simple story of two lonely neighbors is in reality a rich and complex exploration of dislocation, identity and the inexorable pull of history. It is beautifully written and satisfying on many levels from its first page to its last. I highly recommend it.

A must-read for those who have enjoyed Berlin:
... and a great read for anybody else. This is a seriously good book -- fun to read and food for thought. A fascinating story that interweaves personal relationships, history, the expat experience, and dead-on atmospherics of post-Wall Berlin.