Simmel, Johannes ' Bis zur bitteren Neige '

A book by Austrian Author Johannes Mario Simmel. I like his stories, they are complex stories character studies. Simmel was born in 1924, and World War 2 often plays not the main part of his stories, but tells of important events which form the character of his 'hero'.

I cannot come up with a good translation for this titel, it could broadly mean 'Till the end' but that doesn't capture the German double meaning in connection with a drink which gets drunken till the last drop. so maybe 'till the last drop' , no this doesn't sound right. Anyway, the book tells the story of Peter Jordan, a Hollywood child star, now all grown up, success has long left him and he is a severe alcoholic. One final chance of a come-back movie is all he can think of. but his health and addiction is letting him down and he is desperately trying to hide it. And then his private life... he has an affair with his young stepdaughter which escalates.

I'm not sure if this book has been translated into English, but I think, as many Simmel books, has been made into a movie. The book was first published in 1962, but is surprisingly current.