Nord Deutsche Rundfunk is the equivalent of PBS for the northern half of Germany. Part of their cultural programming on the radio this week was “Das Gemischte Doppel,” a literary segment in which two urbane literary critics (Annemarie Stoltenberg and Rainer Moritz) pitched what they believe are the best books getting published in Germany during the fall of 2011. You’ve got to love high-brow Germans – this charming radio show, with breaks, lasted three hours and was moderated by Raliza Nikolov. Germanic love of literature just oozes from this slot.

There is, of course, a self-serving purpose to all this. My German publisher, Pendo Verlag, is publishing The Hundred-Foot Journey on September 29th, under the German title, Madame Mallory und der kleine indische Küchenchef. The erudite critics on the NDR show named my little book one of the top 21 books getting published in Germany this fall, up there with Per Petterson and Pete Dexter.

“Das ist ein so schöner Roman, der von lebeslust und freude gerade so sprühlt,” said Frau Stoltenberg. Roughly translated: “This is such a lovely novel, it sparkles with joie de vivre and fun.” For those who speak German and care to listen in, here is the link to the entire show. My book is introduced roughly 19 minutes into the second stretch. Interestingly, one of the two key themes of German publishing this fall, according to these critics, is “artistic fulfillment” (the other is “old age”.) Herr Moritz has a name for novels like mine – “intelligent entertainment,” which is not to be confused with low-brow entertainment.

Not sure what all this means exactly, but it sure sounds nice. This website has run the NDR critics’ list of 21 books under the headline, “Best Books Of Fall Named Before The Frankfurt Book Fair.” Sweet!