Situated on the cusp of West and East, between the foothills of the Alps
and the mighty 'Blue Danube', Vienna has long presented authors with a
wealth of material for stories that entertain and intrigue. The city's
famous quality of life and rich variety of cultural offerings is
apparent here at every turn, but so too is its darker side, whether it
be the Viennese obsession with death and decay or the dramatic, tragic
events of its twentieth-century history. In stories from the early to
mid-nineteenth century in particular, the city stands for wine, women
and song, for a laid-back - - perhaps somewhat lax?- - outlook on life
that is invariably linked to its location as German culture's
southernmost centre. In more recent tales, the theme of the good life
and of Vienna's beauty continues, but there are very few authors who do
not dwell on elements of darkness or melancholy. Indeed, from the
mid-twentieth century onward, death itself seems to have become
literature's preferred
guide to the city.
The collection concentrates on stories set at the city's margins. The
tales are arranged geographically rather than chronologically, around
and through the city from west to east and back again. We begin and end
with Arthur Schnitzler and Joseph Roth, two authors already indelibly
associated with Vienna, but represented here by little-known gems,
translated for the first time. Other authors include stars of Vienna's
nineteenth century feuilleton journalism - Heinrich Laube, Ferdinand
Kurnberger, Adalbert Stifter - but also the most recent generation of
Viennese writers, Doron Rabinovici, Eva Menasse, Dimitre Dinev, with
tales as yet unknown in English.
