🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Günter Grass
Gunter was raised a Catholic and he served as an altar boy when he was a kid. His parents ran a grocery store with an attached apartment in Danzig-Langfuhr. He had a younger sister, named Waltraud, who was born in 1930. He went to the Danzig gymnasium Conradinum. At the age of 16, he became an Air Force “helper”. Shortly thereafter, he was conscripted into the National Labor Service. Shortly after turning 17, in November of 1944, he volunteered for submarine service with Nazi Germany’s Kiregsmarine so that he could escape the confinement he felt as a teen in his parents’ house, which he considered stuffy Catholic lower-middle class. Gunter was refused by the Navy and he was instead called up for the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg late in 1944.
All Book Series by Günter Grass
Danzig 1939: Treasures of a Destroyed Community
Book 4 of 11 · published 1980 Co-authored · Vivian B. Mann,Joseph Gutmann,Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson
Pen America: A Journal for Writers and Readers: 14 The Good Books
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 2011
City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 1995
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Günter Grass?
Gunter was raised a Catholic and he served as an altar boy when he was a kid. His parents ran a grocery store with an attached apartment in Danzig-Langfuhr. He had a younger sister, named Waltraud, who was born in 1930.
Which Günter Grass series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Die Danziger series, the earliest of Günter Grass's multi-book series: it opens with The Tin Drum (1959) and runs to 3 books across 1959–1963, ending with Dog Years (1963).
How many books has Günter Grass written?
Günter Grass has 39 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1959 and 2024. 3 of them belong to 1 named series — the largest being the Die Danziger series with 3 books — and 36 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Günter Grass's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Günter Grass's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Die Danziger (1959–1963, 3 books).
How are Günter Grass's books organised into series?
This guide splits Günter Grass's 39 books into 1 named series and 36 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Die Danziger (3 books, 1959–1963).