Jakob Arjouni, "The Rudolf Family Does Good Works"

A fun little family lets their ideals fit the crime by taking advantage of a mysterious houseguest.

(from IDIOTS: Five Fairy Tales and Other Stories. Oh geez, it doesn't come out until June.)

A funny, sneaky story whose characters find little ways to justify taking things they want. It takes a little while to realize your reading a satire, and by then you've already mistaken the characters for actual people.

This story, this whole book, was translated from the German by Althea Bell. Though the piece has a lot of political rhetoric and German historical references, you can work it out no problem.

Sorry to write up a book that won't be out for months and months. It's an advance copy I picked up at the newspaper office where I work. Was just looking for any short story. I don't imagine anybody actually goes out and reads anything I write about on this page. But just ruling out the possibility is disheartening, a mistake I should look out for.