Het literaire leed #[nn]

Peter van Straaten's Het literaire leed captures the gentle comedy of literary life in this 1989 De Arbeiderspers collection, with van Straaten handling every creative role himself. The cover sets the tone beautifully: a lightly sketched scene shows two figures standing in what appears to be a reading hall — rows of empty chairs behind them and a lectern at the ready — accompanied by a wry Dutch caption that translates roughly to "Well yes… it's not quite eight o'clock yet, you have to consider…" It's a quietly funny image that promises the kind of warm, self-deprecating wit about writers, audiences, and the small indignities of literary culture that van Straaten does so well.