Criminally fun for western fans, opera aficionados, turkey hunters and more!

A composer of operas as a western hero? Mozart's librettist as a mob boss? A native American as a balloon pilot? Kurt Palm creates an enthralling mix of outrageous madness and historical detail in his story about the Wild West. Bored of society, Gioachino Rossini accepts an outlandish challenge. His uncle has left him a saloon and a piece of farmland in Missouri and neither a stormy passage over the Atlantic, nor the hardships of 1700 kilometers of travel can deter our hero. Once Indian Kamalesh, Ringgold, the escaped slave and Native American Big Thunder join his quest, Rossini and his whirlwind crew cannot be stopped!

Memoir of an exceptional artist.

A journalist asks a renowned artist to tell him her life story for a series in his newspaper. Hesitant at first, she slowly learns to trust the journalist during his daily visits and begins to talk: about her two marriages, her experiences at the theater, her journey to become a writer and about the people who had the greatest influence on her life. About the ups and downs of life as a woman in the public eye. Erika Pluhar has written a new kind of autobiography, settled somewhere between fact and fiction. A personal, touching and fascinating life story.

Ein humoristischer Kriminalfall

In the summer of 2012, a suggestion box was stolen from the Don-Bosco-Church in Klagenfurt. Did the thief confuse the suggestion box with the offertory box even though it had "Tell us what you think! Suggestions, requests, complaints" written on it? Or was the person who took it fed up with people being fed up with church and state? Or had the thief grown tired of the constant moaning and groaning and ranting and raging wearing out suggestion boxes all over? Or was it some kind of harmony-freak who needed his fix of fixing things? Alois Brandstetter sheds light on this bizarre case. His criminalistic and detective investigation is poetically funny and reveals a number of strange coincidences and clues. An exquisitely witty read!

Fierce and flippant: a book you won't easily forget!

Lena was born into a world that is arbitrary and violent. The girl learns to cope with life’s hardships life with wit, persistence and a great deal of courage. She also tries to help others: the kindergarten teacher, homeless dogs that are supposed to be sold to a Chinese restaurant, discus thrower Wassylyna, and her friend, Dog, who lost her legs to frostbite. On her search for a ‘miracle by chance’ – a kind of flying female super hero who is said to turn up wherever help is needed the most – Lena manages to conquer the challenges she faces. Tanja Maljartschuk’s book is a masterpiece of dark and gruesome humor – a book you won’t forget!

An essay on human dignity in late capitalism.

Someone who neither consumes nor produces is redundant - according to the cutthroat logics of late capitalism. International elites claim that overpopulation is our greatest problem. If the population needs to be reduced, who will have to disappear asks Trojanow in his humanist essay that argues against the redundancy of humankind. In his forceful analysis he covers points such as devastation caused by climate change, ruthless neo-liberal politics on the labor market and the apocalypses presented in mass media that we, the seeming winners, fervently consume. One thing we have failed to realize is that these issues also concern us. They concern everyone and everything.

A book on the magic and danger of childhood

Every week Hindenburg’s airship and its crew are burnt to crisps in grandmother’s pantry, while a shark fishing boat rolls at sea in the old tool shed and a fire hydrant turns into a red-eared, lovesick alien. Softly, seriously and without getting stuck in nostalgia, Roman Marchel revives the magic and implacability of life from our childhood and teenage years. His stories are never idyllic: like soap bubbles the children’s worlds are shields against grown-up life. But they are also susceptible to danger, deadly risks and destruction, which can have life-long consequences.

Looking beyond the horizon.

A poet embarks on a journey. We accompany him on his path through all kinds of natural and cultural landscapes, which his words smoothly adapt to. The accuracy of his gaze and his perspective allow us to take part in the visual adventures and broadening horizons he encounters. With him we witness the Czar’s homecoming to St. Petersburg, wander through a Japanese forest and through modern Moscow, visit the Museum of the Revolution in Hanoi and admire the Windcatchers of Yazd in Iran. A collection of poetically condensed moments, lifted out of their everyday rut by our senses and illusions.

“Recognizing oneself in others is an exercise that puts marvel back into our daily lives.” (Barbara Frischmuth)

Barbara Frischmuth is a master of stylistic abundance: full of compassion she takes a sometimes down to earth, sometimes humorously-grotesque look at the trials and tribulations of human interaction. Frischmuth tells of hellos and good-byes. From the story of a lovesick young archeologist who goes into hiding at her sister’s house and lives through a cathartic experience to a substitute fight between a grandmother and her granddaughter over a misplaced nail file. With her playful narration Frischmuth gives us glimpses of a simple truth: Time and again, reality is an experiment.

Was dem Deutschen sein Faust, das ist dem Österreicher sein Hödlmoser.

Hödlmoser, an anachronistic hero, assumes the traditional attitude of the simple man: lover, paterfamilias, mountain climber, poacher, alcoholic, armchair politician, ruffian, patricide, cuckold. The comic element arises from the wide discrepancy between action and language. ... when Styria falls to pieces, so does Austria.

Titus’ mother has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Did she run away, was there an accident or was she murdered?

It’s been eight months since Titus’ mother disappeared without a trace. As a native Italian, she always remained a stranger in the village. His father had brought her with him from one of his expeditions. Rumors and suspicions quickly spread: Did she drown in the lake, did she run away with a lover, or was she the victim of a crime? Titus has been an outsider for years. He avoids people because of a burn scar in his face. The offer to live with and assist the new gravedigger seems like a good way to escape the confinement of his father’s home. As it turns out, the gravedigger is no stranger… Evelyn Grill takes her readers on a journey into a dark world full of secrets. Thrilling suspense from first to last page!