Is God the better manager? The abbot of the “singing monks” answers questions that affect us all.

The basic motto of Saint Benedict – “work and pray” – is followed in the monastery. Does that make monks happier people? Doesn’t an abbot also have to function a crisis manager? Abbot Gregor Henckel Donnersmarck, who had a successful business career before he heard the calling, tells how he and his community in the Monastary of the Holy Cross deal with the trials and tribulations of everyday life. And why the monks’ prayers on the album “Chant – Music for Paradise” were sold over a million times worldwide. Abbot Gregor bases his beliefs on the three Christian virtues faith, hope and love, which are supported by the four Cardinal virtues temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. He shares his personal experiences to illustrate why religion, spirituality and values are such important sources of strength in times of crisis.

A breathtaking love story full of transcendental beauty!

It is only by coincidence that Valentin, a successful TV journalist working for the international Parisian broadcasting network “Channel 8”, discovers that his disturbing dreams are in fact reality. Confused, he embarks on a search for the strange visions that haunt his nightly dreams. He travels to the city where these nightmares are obviously taking place: St. Petersburg. Valentin has an uncanny connection to a Russian artist, who makes her living as a pickpocket. The mundane reporter and the melancholic beauty dream of each other. Like two radio stations tuned to the same frequency, they each experience the life of the other in their dreams. Searching for the strange, yet familiar woman, the line between dream and reality begins to blur as both begin to cross boundaries that they never even thought existed. The ensuing love story between the two highly opposite characters turns into a balancing act between life and death.

FRIEDRICH GLAUSER PRIZE 2011! A provincial, political crime grotesque, a Bad Fucking nightmare!

Things are brewing together in Bad Fucking: first, Vitus Schallmoser (weirdo) is found dead in his lair. Then Camilla Glyck (Federal Office of Criminal Investigation) is ordered to find the whereabouts of Marie Sperr (interior secretary), who, more or less on the side, works as a building contractor and has planned to have an asylum seekers’ hostel built in Bad Fucking. And while a team of cheerleaders practices on the sports ground of Bad Fucking, Jagoda Dragicevic (cleaning lady) decides to blackmail Dr. Ulrich (dentist) with a nude picture. In the meantime, Ludmilla Jesenská (burglar) flees from her pursuers to Vienna: she took photographs of mysterious cave paintings in Bad Fucking. All this (and more) happens while a heat wave brings almost all of Europe to a standstill and thousands of eels as well as a killer thunderstorm move towards Bad Fucking.

Post-World War II literature in Austria, from Ilse Aichinger to Christoph Ransmayer, exemplified in interpretations of the most important works of the time.

Never was the connection between Austrian identity and Austrian literature as evident as after 1945. And no one has been more able to clearly illustrate the correlation between literature and socio-cultural and political conditions as Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler. With “Bruchlinien”, he coined a term that brings Austria’s post-War literature, its developments and its struggles to the point. And he has left us a work that succeeds in demonstrating how passionate and lively literature can be discussed and pondered: enthusiastic and enthusing. The re-edition of “Bruchlinien” is the first of two volumes of Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler’s famous lectures on contemporary Austrian literature.

Anachronistic subjects revisited

Being merciful – what role does this term play in our society today? Or does it no longer play a role at all? In four short essays, Dimitré Dinev investigates this subject. He tells of personal experiences, of beggar-children who were hauled off to the West to serve Capitalism, of a country where people speak of security instead of freedom… Dimitré Dinev illustrates a society that cannot be merciful and confronts it with a person who is willing to take on responsibility. He pointedly beds this responsibility in parable-like stories, questions and striking subjects. “Barmherzigkeit” is the first of the series “Unruhe bewahren”, which was developed in cooperation with the Akademie Graz.

Milena Michiko Flasar tells a light and straightforward story of love, fear and life.

Franziska’s mother is dying. It is a slow process, steadily progressing from an initial irritation to the first instance of forgetfulness, to the first bout of losing touch with reality. These moments irritate Franziska, because her image of her mother as a highly disciplined and controlled Japanese immigrant seems to be fading away completely. The reversal of roles and the mother’s sudden helplessness make her seem unknown to Franziska, like a stranger. Before her daughter’s eyes, she transforms into the young woman she once was, full of desire, hope and passion. After her mother’s death, Franziska is left with a void in her life. A new type of solitude. A gap, which sends her on a journey – on the search for a different, yes, even all-encompassing mother. Milena Michiko Flasar enchants us with a stylistically confident and intensely emotional book.

State terrorism and its executors: the best-selling author on Islamic intelligence agencies.

They are among the most dangerous underground organizations in the world. In a constant state of war, the intelligence agencies of Middle Eastern countries operate unscrupulous and beyond the law. Their operations have increasingly brought them to Europe, where they pose a serious threat to security. They utilize varying terror groups to attain their political goals with brutal violence. When they forge alliances with the West, they torture and kill on behalf of democracies. Best-selling author Wilhelm Dietl is the first to describe the hidden structures and most spectacular operations of Islamic intelligence agencies. After many trips to the Middle East and numerous conversations with insiders, investigators and rival agencies, Dietl describes the agencies’ involvement in activities ranging from organized crime to prohibited nuclear technology and sheds light on the gray area of collaboration with Western partners.

With a preface by Paul Lendvai

Right-wing parties and neo-fascist groups are becoming an ever-increasing problem in young democracies throughout East and Central Europe. Next to these parties’ successes in elections in Hungary and Slovakia, brutal attacks on minorities by paramilitary groups or Nazi skinheads in Serbia and the Czech Republic are making headlines. There is an urgent need for more thorough information on East Europe’s right-wing extremist scene in order to make an appropriate assessment of the threat these groups pose. News correspondents Gregor Mayer and Bernhard Odehnal have been watching the growing threat for years – sometimes even putting themselves in the line of fire. In their reports, comprised in this book, they analyze the right-wing extremist scene in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria. They gathered inside information on the subject in both on-site research and interviews. On the basis of these insights, they outline the historical and ideological background of these events in the respective countries. The authors demonstrate how animosity against Roma, Jews and homosexuals is fueled and point out connections to extremist groups in Germany and Austria, who are striving for the creation of a “North-South axis” of “National resistance”. Mayer and Odehnal clearly name the threat emanating from these ultra-nationalist agitations – a threat for the political stability of each of these countries as well as for democracy in the entire European community.

The opera and music theater of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, from Monteverdi to Stravinsky: a life in the light of opera.

The art form of opera is more than 400 years old, but it has maged to stay young and fresh thanks to artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his unfailing endeavor to continuously renew this art form and our understanding of it. His 80th birthday serves as the perfect opportunity to revisit his life in the colorful world of opera. Numerous examples, from Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo“ and Mozart’s “Figaro“ to Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress“ illustrate how vivid and lively opera can be. Opera is a theater for all senses, not a dusty relic from the past, a hallow traditon or elitist vanity fair. Text, music, drama and an image of the world portrayed on stage all come together in the unique cosmos of opera, with the purpose of reflecting our human nature. And thus opera is a necessity, like all forms of art. This is what Nikolaus Harnoncourt demonstrates once more with great passion, intelligence and conviction in this enthralling book.

In August 1791 Maria von Herbert from Klagenfurt writes a letter to Immanuel Kant in Königsberg. She is asking the ageing celibate for comfort and advice – because Maria von Herbert is lovesick. This is historical documented. The young and talkative amanuensis of Kant is answering her in the name of his master and he responds to problems, the young woman is not suffering from. This is documented in Brandstetter’s way. Kant’s amanuensis reflects on various peculiarities and strangnesses; f.e. whether one can admire Kant, when one is admiring Goethe as well. And last but not least he reflects on a question, that affects all of us: how to get rid of lovesickness? This one-letter-novel is humorous, witty and smart, full of sarcasm as well as sapiency. Greetings from cant is a book is comfort and advice – but, most of all, it is a pleasurable read.