Once a Greek is a 1955 novel by the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

It tells the story of a shy, middle-aged book-keeping assistant, who becomes popular and successful overnight when he decides to get married.

Vonnegut compared Dürrenmatt's stories to Swiss clockworks, and wrote that the author "is a fascinating, endearing maker of clocks.

And, while he seems to protest against the absurdities of modern times, he doesn't care enough about them to learn much about them.

"[1] In 1966 it was turned into a West German film Once a Greek directed by Rolf Thiele and starring the comedian Heinz Rühmann.