About Robert Neumann (writer)
Robert Neumann (22 May 1897, in Vienna – 3 January 1975, in Munich) was a German and English-speaking writer. He published numerous novels, autobiographical texts, plays and radio plays as well a few scripts. Through his parody collections, Mit fremden Federn (With Strange Feathers) (1927) and Unter falscher Flagge (Under False Flag) (1932), he is considered as the founder of "parody as a critical genre in the literature of the 1920s." == Life == Robert Neumann was the son of a Jewish bank clerk with social democratic leanings. Neumann studied medicine, chemistry, and one semester of German studies from 1915 to 1919 in Vienna. He worked as a cashier, swim coach, and associate for a food importing company, but was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1925. Afterwards he worked for a short time as a sailor and cargo supervisor on a cruise ship. Having already published small volumes of lyric poetry in 1919 and 1923, he succeeded in a literary breakthrough in parody with the collection Mit fremden Federn in 1927. In a survey, Thomas Mann judged that book the best of the year. Neumann thus established himself and became a freelance writer. In rapid succession he published other novels, parodies and plays.
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