Complete Catalog 410 Result(s)

There is no one more clear-eyed than Peter Rosei when it comes to depicting the fate of the individual in a globalised, hyper-commercial world.

The threads of Peter Rosei’s new novel weave through Tokyo and Vienna, Chicago and Fiji, Utah and Cairo. In writing as precise as it is sophisticated, with a keen eye for the darker sides of human nature and the financial world, Rosei traces the rise and fall of Robert Perwald. At first, the brilliant economist seems to be a rising star, but when he moves to Tokyo to be with his Japanese wife Yoko, the first cracks begin to appear. Perwald loses his way, falling in with other people whose lives have somehow got off track, until finally he returns to Vienna, where he slips back into depending on his mother. Sharp-eyed and relentless, Rosei explores just how unpredictable life can sometimes be—and traces what ultimately leads Perwald to murder.

Residenz Classic

When it was first published in 1974, Peter Rosei’s extraordinary piece of travel writing was celebrated as a unique ‘mausoleum for humanity at the end of its history’ (DIE ZEIT). In the book, a kind of Kaspar Hauser figure sets off through a world without people, trying to learn more about it. Does this world only exist in his mind, or is it real? Rosei sketches out the topography of a landscape devoid of human beings, a world as meticulously detailed as a hallucination. We see it all through the eyes of one solitary wanderer: plains, mountains, snow and ice, always moving towards the next horizon. An audacious journey to the edges of perception, now released in a new edition—this is a rediscovery of disturbing contemporary relevance.

A brief cultural history of the loo, from chamber pots to heated toilet seats, from outdoor privies to gold taps.

We spend an average of three years on the toilet over the course of our lifetime, yet they are still deeply taboo. Toilets hardly ever appear in films, plays or novels. The French kings used to meet with their ministers while on the pot, while in the nineteenth century there were porters who used to carry mobile WCs on their backs. Quirky and provocative, comical and surprising, Franzobel’s new book tells the story of humanity from the perspective of the gut, while also describing his own very personal connection to the subject: his first loo was a chamber pot, he wrote his early poems on bog roll, and he has familiarised himself with toilets across the world on countless journeys.

From dollhouses to playhouses: Tanja Reich’s history of the doll is also a history of female empowerment.

Dolls are one of humanity’s earliest toys. They can be made of wax, bone, fabric or wood, of porcelain or plastic. Dolls offer companionship and comfort; they are loved, collected, beaten and disfigured. They are magical objects, sexual objects or sites of fear; they appear on stages and in exhibitions; they are crash-test dummies. Dolls always reflect our society and our desires: dollhouses encourage girls to practise a maternal role, while playhouses turn the girls themselves into baby dolls, yet dolls can also be powerful images of femininity, and best friends. Tanja Reich’s book explores a dazzling array of different dolls’ bodies and dolls’ narratives.

Vivid, gripping and claustrophobic, Vladimir Vertlib’s new novel explores love and hate, faith and betrayal—and the will to live, come what may.

Vienna, circa 1670: a city of extraordinary splendour and grinding poverty. Emperor Leopold I is struggling to find more money to fund his military campaigns, and he also desperately needs an heir. The Empress’s personal physician, Pedro de Rojas, is the only person who can help the frantic Empress Margarita Teresa. But de Rojas is hiding a dangerous secret: he’s a Spanish converso, a converted Jew, and behind closed doors he still practises his faith. The Catholic Empress is trying to banish Jewish people from the city, believing them to be the root of all evil. Will Don Pedro and his beloved Esther, a midwife, be able to stop it? Vladimir Vertlib weaves together comedy and drama in this magnificent novel about religious conflict and social snobbery, persecution, intrigues and betrayal...

Understanding instead of despair—a constructive take on our political crisis

Globalisation and digitalisation have brought tremendous prosperity—and also polarisation, status anxiety and political anger. Right-wing populists from Trump to Weidel to Kickl have taken advantage of these profound shifts, offering simple answers instead of actual solutions. This book shows how globalisation and social media fuel populism, and why democratic parties have reacted so feebly. Still, crying about it won’t get us anywhere, so Fritz Jergitsch—social media expert and commentator on contemporary politics—outlines a new liberalism for the twenty-first century: one that ensures a fair share in progress, digital democracy and a clear commitment to freedom and the rule of law. A passionate argument for why our democracy needs a refresh.

Legendary musician Nikolaus Harnoncourt on an extraordinary composer: Mozart

The genius and his interpreter: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in dialogue. This volume brings together Harnoncourt’s writings on Mozart, offering insights into the thinking and practice of a musician who fundamentally altered our approach to the great composer’s work. Harnoncourt helped to liberate Mozart’s music from the anachronistic ideas imposed on them and to make them accessible to contemporary listeners. He explains the various competing factors involved when performing historical music, as well as the challenges for interpreters and listeners. Drawing on his own experience, he reveals the complexities and dramatic tension of historical performance, aiding a deeper understanding of these timeless masterpieces.

Living for science, music and peace

The great physicist Victor Weisskopf (1908–2002) studied under Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger in Leipzig and Berlin. He was forced to leave his native Austria before the Nazi occupation on account of his Jewish heritage. He subsequently joined the team of scientists on the Manhattan Project in the USA, where he was involved in the development of the atom bomb. By the time he fully realized the consequences of his work, however, it was already too late. From then on, he became a vocal opponent of nuclear weapons. A belated realization in the moral dilemma of atomic physics, or a logical conclusion for the man who later became a professor at MIT and the director of CERN? An enthralling, well-founded biography of this physicist and passionate pianist.

Katherina Braschel weaves together memory and research into family history in this tender debut novel that poses some radical questions.

Lina, a child of the 1990s, grew up in a world where time stands still: in a community of Danube Swabians who fled persecution in their homeland and eventually settled in Salzburg, where since 1945 they have continued to live according to tradition. When Lina finds out one evening that her grandfather was a member of the SS, she begins to search for answers, exploring beyond the dominant narrative of victimhood. Torn between the love she feels for her late grandparents and her own political awakening, she decides to break the silence. With the support of her close friends, Lina faces up to her family history, following a trail that eventually leads her to Belgrade. When she finally confronts her mother with what she’s learned, all of her former certainties are put to the test ...

A unique pop-cultural game set in 1990s Belgrade – and a mad race against a time that truly screwed things up for the city‘s people.

Belgrade, 1995: Marko, his sister Vanja and Kasandra from the Roma settlement live in the „giant psycho-economical disaster“ of 1990s Belgrade – a vicious circle of poverty, violence, inflation, drugs and new technologies. Yet in this inspired novel there aren‘t just gangs and dealers, there‘s also a crazy scientist and a time machine, there‘s a Balkan pop icon and kinky sex, there are bombardments and destruction, but also music and friendship. When the three young friends are catapulted into the war year of 1999, they realise that they have to rescue their city from the disastrous 90s. In a headlong race against the ticking clock they try to find the key to the time warp and re-write history.