| Author | Arno Schmidt |
|---|---|
| Original title | Die Gelehrtenrepublik |
| Translator | Michael Horovitz |
| Language | German |
| Publisher | Stahlberg Verlag |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | West Germany |
Published in English | 1979 |
| Pages | 225 |
The Egghead Republic (German : Die Gelehrtenrepublik), also published as Republica Intelligentsia, [1] is a 1957 novel by the German writer Arno Schmidt.
It is the year 2008 and Earth has suffered a devastating nuclear war. The American journalist Charles Henry Winer is sent to report from the Western United States and visits two major locations. In a desert of Arizona, he encounters mutants and experimental hybrid creatures. He has a love affair with a female centaur named Thalia. On a floating island at the Pacific Ocean, he visits the International Republic of Artists and Scientists, where residents tell him about how they preserve and transplant human brains. [2] [3]
Paul West of The Washington Post wrote that the novel is "sheer, complex fun" and offers "Schmidt as his feistiest, his most ingenious, and his most captivating". [2]
The Swedish film The Egghead Republic was shot in 2023. The film is loosely based on the novel and set in Kazakhstan. [4]