Billboards at HalfPast Nine Author:Heinrich Boll Robert Faehmel, stronly anti-war and anti-totalitarian, had fled from the Nazis during their rise, had lost his wife and watched his mother lose her mind amid the horror of their time. He nevertheless became commander of retreating German forces which senslessly destroyed an abbey -- the greatest of his father's architectural accomplishments. ... more »In an effort to retain his sanity, Robert Faehmel now lives a rigorously scheduled life; his daily ritual includes a game of billards at the local hotel each morning at half past nine. The interruprion of this routine by an old schoolmate and former Nazi who has becoe a power in German reconstruction triggers a conflict both absorbing and profound.« less