'Whether walking, swimming or reading, Hens is an inspiring guide and a patient teacher. I love the way he sees the world, as and in its cities.'
-- Jon Day, author of Homing

'Gregor Hens combines memories and reflections, reportage and theory to create an impressive book about the phenomenon of the city.... The appeal of the book, however, lies not in the diversity of the topics addressed, but in the seemingly effortless and almost somnambulistic way in which Hens combines his own memories and reflections, reportage and theory.'
-- FAZ

'This book is a blessing.... In a mixture of essay, autobiographical recollection and dream travelogue, the Cologne-born author takes us into all these exciting storehouses of stories and history in his richly illustrated book.'
-- RND

'This is the driving principle of his book: by virtue of his imagination, his sensibility and his readings, the author succeeds in spinning a web whose individual threads touch and extend into the distance.'
-- Deutschlandradio Kultur

Gregor Hens, born in 1965, is a German writer and translator. He has notably translated Will Self, Jonathan Lethem and George Packer into German. The City and the World is his second book to be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.