Reviews 209 techniques characteristic ofNeueSachlichkeit butalsodrawsinspiration from Otto Neurath's pictorial representations ofstatistics, pioneered in Viennaduringthe 1920s, topresent thefate ofhischaracter insociological andeconomic terms. Moresubtlein theirmodernity are theinterwar reworkings oftheCasanova storyexaminedby BirgitLang. She demonstrates convincingly that,both for Arthur Schnitzler andFranzBlei,twowriters withlittle elseincommon andscant respect foreachother, 'theagingCasanova [...]represented an oldergeneration thathadledsociety intopolitical destabilization' (pp.238-39). Fascinating though it is, thisessaywouldhavebeen strengthened further bya briefdiscussionof how Schnitzler's Die Schwestern and Blei's Casanova faredin the theatre.In thefinalpieceofthecollection, RobertVilaindiscussesJohn Lehmannsnovel Evilwas Abroad(1938), theresultofa lengthy stayin Viennaduringwhichhe witnessed theevents ofFebruary 1934. LikeChristopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, Lehmann's novelandpoemsillustrate poignantly howvaluabletheoutsider's view canbeinunderstanding notonlythepolitical events butalsothesexualpolitics of the1930s. To readerswho are alreadyfamiliarwithkeyaspectsof interwar Vienna, someof thesurvey articlesmayseema littlepredictable, althoughthebroad, interdisciplinary coveragewill no doubtbe welcometo newcomers. Thereare several excellent contributions onlessfamiliar topics, andalmostallareenlivened bydrawing onfresh contemporary sources. UniversityCollege London JudithBeniston Thomas BernhardSiegfried Unseld. DerBriefwechsel. Ed.byRaimundFellinger, Martin Huber and Julia Ketterer. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp. 2009. 869pp.€39,80. ISBN 978-3-518-41970-0. This remarkable correspondence makesriveting readingfromstartto finish. It differs from otherclassicsofliterary correspondence (theletters ofGoetheand Schiller, orofHofmannsthal andRichard Strauss) inthatitisnotbetween artistic collaborators; butbothcorrespondents weremajorcultural figures ofexceptional gifts, andtheir relationship wasbynomeansanunequalone.Siegfried Unseldhad beenheadpublisher oftheSuhrkamp Verlag since1959. Bernhard first wrote tohim in1961, sending himthemanuscript ofa novel; inUnseld 'sabsence, themanuscript wasrejected. Therethenfollowed a three-year gap,butbytheendof1964Unseld hadpublished Frost undertheInselVerlag imprint andithadwona notable prize. The correspondence - overfivehundreditems,endingonlyin November 1988, twoanda halfmonths before Bernharďs death, andpublished withgenerous background documentation - recordsa remarkably productive collaboration bornbothoftension andofmutual esteem. Bernhardt letters frequently havethe uncompromising intensity thatdrives hiscreative prose.Unseldfully appreciated thepowerful energy of his language;in relation to thelast greatmasterpiece, Auslöschung, heusedtheimageofanirresistible undertow ('derSogseiner Sprache', p. 750).He reacted to Bernhard's erratic geniuswitha level-headed patience that is at oncefullofunderstanding and strategically calculated: he wantednotonly 210 Reviews tokeepBernhard intheSuhrkamp stablebutalso tosecureexclusive publication ofall hiswork. He frequently travelled in ordertotalktoBernhard, often totalk himroundafter somecrisis; hewoulddictate detailedaccounts ofhistravels and oftheirmeetings, and his reports oftheirconversations are reproduced in the annotation totheletters. Theresult isa wonderfully informative edition (ofa kind theHofmannsthal - Strauss correspondence lacks), thecorrespondence filled out withmaterial from theSuhrkamp Verlag archive. Unseldrecognized that bothheandBernhard were driven bytheir work: 'Ihnen, lieber ThomasBernhard/ hewrote in1981, 'giltwiemirletztlich nurdieArbeit, sie istderSinn* (p.621).Thisunderlay hisunderstanding - even,as henotedin1978, hisadmiration - ofBernhard's 'intensity' andself-centred 'obstinacy* inrespect of hiswriting ('Immer wieder bewundere ichanihmseinePräzision, seineIntensität, seinenEigen-Sinn, wennes um seineArbeiten geht', p. 545).The intensity was also reflected, however, in burstsof hostility to Unseldand his colleagues,in financial demands, indeviousness (hisdisregard for contracts signed, hisfailure to remove hisautobiographical writing from theResidenz Verlag), andinoccasional impatiencewith the 'soulless' chore of proof-reading ('Ich verweigere diese stumpfsinnige Arbeit* [p.531], hewrote inJanuary 1978), though hewasfurious if hefound mistakes thathecouldblameoncopy-editors. Asearly as 1972, itisclear thatonlyirony orsuperhuman optimism couldliebehindUnseld'sclaimto rely onBernhard's goodsenseinrelation tofinancial arrangements ('IchbaueaufIhre persönliche Vernunft', p.312);a few months later hehadtodefend himself against Bernhard's continual 'mistrust' (p.359), andbyJuly 1975 hewasdriven toremind hisauthor thatevena publisher is a humanbeingandneedsoccasionalcosseting (p-477)-Buthisownconfidence was unshaken: one day,he wroteearlyin 1978, itwouldbe clearwhichofthetwowas themorereliable('Einmalwirdsichja herausstellen, werderZuverlässigere war,Verleger oderAutor', p. 532).In fact the letters andaccompanying documentation demonstrate overandagainhowactive a publisher (andhisstaff) canbe intheservice ofa writer, andinparticular how mucheffort andtimea commercial publishing housecan invest inattracting the interest ofmajortheatres and stimulating performance, so influencing thewhole shapeoftherepertoire. ByNovember 1988Unseldhadcometodismiss Bernhard's erratic conduct towards theatres andpublisher alikeas 'clowning' ('seinclowneskes Spiel', p.800). Bernhard couldbejustas abusiveoftheatres as ofpublishers, dismissing them in1973 as fullof'uselessriff-raff ('Die Theater, dievondemnutzlosesten Gesindel bevölkert sind',p. 390).Buthisletters showtheincreasing importance thatthe theatre had forhimin hislateryears, whenhe placedparticular weight on the workofBernhard Minetti as actorand ClausPeymann as director. (He wasvery reluctant toseePeymann gototheBurgtheater.) Thebookbrings ina whole gallery oftheatrical names(Kirsten Dene and MarianneHoppe,theoriginal Annaand FrauProfessor in Heldenplatz, are amongothersthatfeature prominently; also DieterDorn amongdirectors). The readeris wellservedbydetailedindexesof namesand works, essential in a volumethatanyfuture research intoBernhard's working practice willhavetotakeintoaccount. Theedition isprepared withcare Reviews 211 throughout, a misprint suchas a misspelling of'Cuvilliés-Theater' (in a noteon p.361)standing outbyitsrarity, andthere isalsoa modelafterword bytheeditors, conciseandinformative. In 1988 therelation between thetwomenallbutbroke down;Unseldwrote that hecoulddo nomore('ichkannnicht mehr', p.805).Butthetensions between them hadbeencreative tensions, inseparable from theadmiration andrespect they had...