Antichrist

(Paperback)

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Long out of print in English, this dizzyinghybridofnovel, essay, and polemichas less to do with religion than with what Roth sees as the disintegrating moral fabric of the modern worldWritten while Roth was in exile from Germany and his native Austria following the rise of Nazism, this work wascomposed in cafes across free Europe after all his works in German went up in flames. Such events no doubt influence the apocalytic tones of The Antichrist's protaganist, J.R., a journalist hired by an inscrutable media mogul hellbent on exposing evidence of the "Antichrist" throughout the world. This mission leads J.R. to authoritarian political regimes such as Red Earth (the Soviet Union) but also other poisonous terrains like The Land of Shadows (Hollywood)it becomes all too clear that it is Roth's mission to chart the whole of civilization's slide into moral and political chaos. But herein lies the extraordinary strength and appeal of this work, as Roth is powerfully and even hilariously prescient. Mixing the diatribe with his trademark sardonic wit, he miraculously predicts the advent of the Holocaust, globalization, multimediaeven the paparazzi. Combining beautiful but savage writing with visual imageryout ofa Coen Brothers movie, this is an invaluable addition to the Rothcanon in English."

Reviews

"Arguably his most bizarre and fascinating book. . . . Fantastical and oddly on the money." Metro"
"Epic . . . brilliantly achieved . . . the portrait of an empty age, an age of gold braid and glitter." New York Times on The Radetzky March"
"One of the most readable, poignant, and superb novels in twentieth-century German: it stands with the best of Thomas Mann, Alfred Doblin, and Robert Musil." Harold Bloom, author, How to Read and Why, on The Radetzky March"
"The totality of Joseph Roth's work is no less than a tragedie humaine. Achieved in the techniques of modern fiction. Nadine Gordimer, author, The Pickup, on The Radetzky March"

Author Bio

Joseph Roth (18941939) was an Austrian novelist best known for his family saga Radetzky March and for his novel of Jewish life, Job. He fought in the Austrian army in World War I, and worked as a novelist and journalist in Frankfurt, becoming a leading Jewish intellectual of the era. With the rise of Nazism, he lived the rest of his life in exile. Richard Panchyk is an author, editor, and translator. His titles include Archeology for Kids and World War II for Kids."