The Resume

(October 16, 1927-April 13, 2015)
Born in Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland)
Wrote 'The Tin Drum' (1959), 'Cat and Mouse' (1963), 'Dog Years' (1965), 'Four Plays' (1967), 'In the Egg and Other Poems' (1977), 'The Rat' (1987), 'My Century' (1999), 'Crabwalk' (2002) and 'Peeling the Onion' (2006)
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1999)

Why he might be annoying:

He served in the Waffen SS during World War II.
He did not disclose his membership until 2006, which is ironic for an author whose works are mostly about Germany coming to terms with its Nazi past.
Journalist Joachim Fest said, 'I can't understand how someone who for decades set himself up as a moral authority, and a rather smug one, could pull this off.'
Christopher Hitchens suggested that the revelation was a stunt to drum up publicity for his latest book.
Other critics suggested that he kept the information secret until after he had won the Nobel Prize because he knew the Nobel committee would not give the prize to a former SS member.

Why he might not be annoying:

Authors John Irving and Salman Rushdie said his reputation as an author should not be 'undone' by a 'youthful mistake.'
He was named an honorary citizen of Gdansk.
He proposed the creation of a German-Polish museum for art stolen by the Nazis.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 06]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [October] (Ranked: 10161927)
• I Died in 2015 (Ranked: 87)
• I Write Bildungsroman
• Male Pipe Smokers
• Nobel Prize for Literature
• NPR's 100 Best Literary Characters of the 20th Century [Authors - 2002] (Ranked: 30)
• Profiles 21001-21250 (Ranked: 21191)
• Served in World War II
• World Literature Today Top 40 [2001] (Ranked: 1959)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 37 Votes: 8.11% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 65.52% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 46 Votes: 76.09% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 44 Votes: 72.73% Annoying