"Some thirty-five years after his death, the fiction writer Heimito von Doderer (1896-1966) remains possibly the most acclaimed and important Austrian novelist since World War II; long appreciated as a traditionalist who championed the avant-garde emerging after his time, Doderer has gained a new generation of admirers among writers working in German and has been newly revalued as a craftsman and a visionary of urgent relevance to modernist and postmodernist authors. As his influence enjoys a resurgence in the German-speaking world, this biographical and interpretive study hopes to bring Doderer and his achievement closer to the English-speaking readers."--BOOK JACKET.