Gunter grass was born in Danzig ( it became part of Germany but is now the polish city, Gdansk ) in 1927. His most famous novel is 'The Tin Drum' the story of Oscar Matzerath, a boy who decides not to grow up physically, and his experiences during World War II and after. This was first published in 1959 and the English translation in 1962. It is a great read and was also made into an excellent film. Gunter Grass won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. He created Controversy recently by admitting that he had served in the Waffen SS at the end of WWII. The controversy was not that he had joined the SS ( Germany was so short of troops at the end of the war they were drafting young boys and old men, so he probably had little choice in the matter) but that he had kept it a secret for so long.