Desire and Delusion: Three Novellas - Hardcover

The tales of Arthur Schnitzler-especially as rendered in Margret Schaefer's clear, uncluttered translations-are many suggestive, allusive, and dreamlike things. But they are most certainly not the work of a period writer. -- Chris Lehmann * The Instrumentalist * This extraordinary portrayal of psychic shock and disintegration is, simply, one of the greatest modern short novels. * Kirkus * In Margret Schaefer's superb translations Arthur Schnitzler re-emerges as a riveting storyteller. -- Sandra M. Gilbert These three dark novellas show Schnitzler's mastery as a guide to the neurotic, death-obsessed world of fin-de-siecle Vienna. -- Robert Alter Schnitzler and Schaefer-a perfect marriage, made in Vienna. -- Frederick Crews, University of California, Berkeley One reads the stories with suspense, pleasure, amusement.... [Schnitzler] can be read with pleasure and ease. * The New York Times * She is readable, relaxed and on the whole the best guide for English readers to the nondramatic works of the man whom Freud admired and held in awe as his literary doppelganger. -- Peter Heinegg * America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture * Translator Margret Schaefer [offers a] concise and informative introduction.... Schnitzler's characters-abrim with sensibility, but devoid of common sense-seem so contemporary. * New Haven Register * Beautifully translated. Each novella offers rich examples of the darkly introspective and self-destructive stream of consciousness Schnitzler employed. -- E. Wickersham, Villanova University * CHOICE * Clear and accessible versions of these haunting, riveting stories. * Toronto Globe and Mail *

Dying, Flight into Darkness, and Fraulein Else reveal the depths of Schnitzler's psychological and moral understanding of life as well as the masterful storytelling techniques that immerse the reader into the very center of his characters' thoughts and emotions. "The tales of Arthur Schnitzler-especially as rendered in Margret Schaefer's clear, uncluttered translations-are many suggestive, allusive, and dreamlike things. But they are most certainly not the work of a period writer."-Chris Lehmann, Washington Post Book World.