The Tin Drum is an amazing book and it influenced a lot of fiction - from Midnight's Children to A Prayer for Owen Meany. Some of his shorter books are a little

The Tin Drum is an amazing book and it influenced a lot of fiction - from Midnight's Children to A Prayer for Owen Meany. Some of his shorter books are a little more accessible (Cat and Mouse or Crabwalk, for instance). I found Grass' perspective on WWII and German history to be particularly valuable, since he was a young German (of Polish origin) who had to reconcile with his own participation in the Nazi regime.