3.5
Late Fame
ByPublisher Description
A hilarious takedown of celebrity and false genius, never before available in the US.
An NYRB Classics Original
Eduard Saxberger is a quiet man who is getting on in years and has spent the better part of them working at a desk in an office. Once upon a time, however, he published a book of poetry, Wanderings, and one day when he returns from his usual walk he finds a young man waiting for him. “Are you,” he wants to know, “Saxberger the poet?”
Is Saxberger Saxberger the poet? Was he ever a poet? A real poet? Saxberger hasn’t written a poem for years, but he begins to frequent the coffee shops of Vienna with his young admirer and his no less admiring circle of friends, and as he does he begins to yearn for a different life from the daily round followed by rounds of drinks and billiards with familiar buddies like Grossinger, the deli owner. And the ardent attentions of Fräulein Gasteiner, the tragedienne, are not entirely unwelcome.
The Hope of Young Vienna is how the young artists style themselves, and they are arranging an event that will introduce them to the world. They insist that the distinguished author of Wanderings take part in it as well. Will he write something new for the occasion? Will he at last receive his due?
Late Fame, an unpublished novella recently rediscovered in the papers of the great turn-of-the-century Austrian playwright and novelist Arthur Schnitzler, is a bittersweet parable of hope lost and found.
An NYRB Classics Original
Eduard Saxberger is a quiet man who is getting on in years and has spent the better part of them working at a desk in an office. Once upon a time, however, he published a book of poetry, Wanderings, and one day when he returns from his usual walk he finds a young man waiting for him. “Are you,” he wants to know, “Saxberger the poet?”
Is Saxberger Saxberger the poet? Was he ever a poet? A real poet? Saxberger hasn’t written a poem for years, but he begins to frequent the coffee shops of Vienna with his young admirer and his no less admiring circle of friends, and as he does he begins to yearn for a different life from the daily round followed by rounds of drinks and billiards with familiar buddies like Grossinger, the deli owner. And the ardent attentions of Fräulein Gasteiner, the tragedienne, are not entirely unwelcome.
The Hope of Young Vienna is how the young artists style themselves, and they are arranging an event that will introduce them to the world. They insist that the distinguished author of Wanderings take part in it as well. Will he write something new for the occasion? Will he at last receive his due?
Late Fame, an unpublished novella recently rediscovered in the papers of the great turn-of-the-century Austrian playwright and novelist Arthur Schnitzler, is a bittersweet parable of hope lost and found.
Download the free Fable app
Stay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
Rate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
Curate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesStay organized
Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.Build a better TBR
Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building toolRate and review
Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tagsCurate your feed
Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities13 Reviews
3.5
ru
Created 2 months agoShare
Report
Armaghan
Created 7 months agoShare
Report
Angelica
Created 9 months agoShare
Report
Talia
Created over 1 year agoShare
Report
Andrew Pendergrass
Created over 1 year agoShare
Report
“Great short novella (100 pages?). Aging civil servant in Austria, turn of the century is interrupted at home by a young poet admirer ... Turns out our civil servant wrote a book of poetry when he was young - Wanderings - but finally gave it up for lack of success and gave up the artsy life and also any attempts at writing. He has been leading the quiety middle ages life of the civil servant for 40 years. Our hero is, of course, gratified to be recognized.. he goes to visit with the local artsy young people and revels in their admiration of him. He grows annoyed when the talk veers from his great work. He is tasked with writing a new poem for an event. He .... can't. it is 40 years later, there is nothing of the poet left. He is still allowed to attend the event as an honored older guest, but the respect of these young people has gone way down. Finally, near the end, we learn that virtually none (or none) of this group has actually read his supposedly great work ... he smiles.
What a great book!”
About Arthur Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931) was born in Vienna to a well-to-do Austrian Jewish family. His father was a prominent laryngologist, and Arthur followed him into the profession, obtaining his doctorate of medicine and working at Vienna’s General Hospital until he stopped practicing to pursue writing full time. His first play, Anatol (1893), was a success. Other early works include Reigen (1897), which was adapted into Max Ophüls’s 1950 film, La Ronde; and Lieutenant Gustl (1900), a military satire denounced by anti-Semites who successfully lobbied for Schnitzler to be discharged from his position as a reserve officer in the medical corps of the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1903, he married Olga Gussmann, and the couple had a son and a daughter. Schnitzler wrote dozens of novels, novellas, and plays, including The Road into the Open (1908); Fräulein Else (1924); and Traumnovelle (1926), which Stanley Kubrick adapted into Eyes Wide Shut. Schnitzler and Gussmann were divorced in 1921. In 1928, their daughter, Lili, committed suicide; Schnitzler died following a stroke three years later.
Alexander Starritt is a writer, translator, and journalist who lives in London. His writing has been shortlisted for the Paris Literary Prize and he has contributed articles to The Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, and The Mail on Sunday.
Wilhelm Hemecker teaches in the Department of European and Comparative Literature and Language Studies at the University of Vienna.
David Österle is a researcher and assistant to the director at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography in Vienna.
Alexander Starritt is a writer, translator, and journalist who lives in London. His writing has been shortlisted for the Paris Literary Prize and he has contributed articles to The Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, and The Mail on Sunday.
Wilhelm Hemecker teaches in the Department of European and Comparative Literature and Language Studies at the University of Vienna.
David Österle is a researcher and assistant to the director at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography in Vienna.
Other books by Arthur Schnitzler
Start a Book Club
Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!FAQ
Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?
Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?
How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?
Do you sell physical books too?
Are book clubs free to join on Fable?
How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?
Save to a list
0
/30
0
/100
Private List