March 3, 2006

Second Half of 2-Volume Karl Kraus Biography May Bring Writer's Works to Broader Audience

By RICHARD BYRNE

TORCH BEARER: It is no exaggeration to say that Karl Kraus was the key literary figure in the fecund atmosphere of early-20th-century Vienna, far outstripping other writers of that place and time — Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil, Joseph Roth — better known to English-speaking readers.

Through both his long-running and (mostly) self-penned literary journal Die Fackel (The Torch) and other literary works (including an epic 1922 play, The Last Days of Mankind),