Description
With extraordinary confidence, Steven Kelly takes a city famed for its wealth, revered for its arts and proud of its beauty and exposes its deepest insecurities. The city is Vienna - still fragile and fragmented after the trauma of its past - and what he unravels are fear, anger and romantic escapism in numerous guises. Above all this is a book about the art of living, the art of politics and, just as importantly, the politics of art.It is a RitualA genteel Viennese prepares a dinner party for a select group of friends. He approaches the occasion with the diligence of an artist but, as the evening progresses, cracks appear in his canvas and in a moment's brutal exposure he is shown to be more puppet than puppeteer.Breakfast was SimpleA group of friends find their romantic assumptions challenged when an Irish expatriate invades their lives and, on a visit to the zoo, the violence of history and exile is disturbingly revealed.There were RulesA lost painting by the Viennese master Egon Schiele is the focus for a story of artistic obsession and disturbing historical precedent in a world where the desire to create can quickly become an urge to destroy...'Three brilliant and disturbing tales of Vienna... these extravagant stories of love and death are told in the quietest, most economical manner.' - Penelope Fitzgerald, London Evening Standard'The attempt to impose an artistic order on life is a striking theme... this book has an impressive depth which is not at all concealed by a polished prose.' - The London Independent'This book kept me awake at night. It is haunting, with an emphasis on grotesque detail, as the gloss of nice living is wiped away to reveal the dark past, the Nazi heritage.' - The Glasgow List'The prose is sharp and yet flowing, the narrative clean. Kelly builds tension through a story and yet the end appears natural and inevitable. Mystery and ritual are a heady mixture, but it's a mixture of which he's a master.' - The Irish Press'Kelly's writing is powerful and intelligent. His ideas are sophisticated but surface with considerable ease. Most memorable is his voice... It has a disarming coolness, an unnerving succinctness, which ensures you sit up and listen. This is an author well worth listening out for in the future.' - Writers' Monthly
