The article contains the comparison between the biography and autobio-graphy of the writer, Vicki Baum as the icon of success. Vicki Baum (1888-1960) was one of the most famous writers in the 1930, and once described as German Colette. Baum’s career stages have been outlined here – being a professional harpist, an aspiring writer, an Ullstein publishing editor, the bestselling author in Germany, her huge success and its consequences i.e. film adaptation of the novel in America and her career in the US as a screen writer for the biggest film production companies in Hollywood. In her autobiography, Baum poses to be optimistic. However, between the lines of her text the longing for the unattainable can be seen as the author realized that many of her novels were regarded as popular literature.
Every period has its own heroes and its own great bestsellers. In this article I will refer to two extremely popular works in their own times. The first is one of the stories from the Magda Trott’s series for girls and young women with the flag character – Pucki, entitled “New Pucki’s Pranks” dating back to 1930s, the second one is a Helene Hegemann novel published in 2010 by Ullstein under the title Axolotl Roadkill. The young women discourse presented on the pages of these two novels cannot be more distinct at first sight. And yet despite distinct differences it includes similar elements. For youth is, almost always, the family problems, the time for first loves or
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