The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth

Roth's novellas and short stories will rank with Chekhov's and Kafka's as among the greatest of modern literature.

Roth's novellas and short stories will rank with Chekhov's and Kafka's as among the greatest of modern literature. Appearing in English for the first time, The Collected Stories of Joseph Roth is a remarkable achievement, seventeen novellas and stories that echo the intensity and achievement of his greatest novel, The Radetzky March. Spanning the entire range of Roth's brief life (1894-1939) and including many stories just recently discovered, the book showcases the stunning "Strawberries" (1929), which comprises the first few chapters of a novel Roth would never complete. Here, clearly at the height of his literary prowess, Roth depicts his native town of Brody, a mad little Jewish village given over to mild criminality, yet oddly still ticking along. Similarly breathtaking, indeed reminiscent of Chekhov, are the novellas "Stationmaster Fallmerayer" (1933) and "The Bust of the Emperor" (1935). These short works, each a stunning example of Roth's legendary explorations of character, reflect an enduring and tragic sensibility that stands alone in the annals of twentieth-century fiction.

Joseph Roth (1894-1939) was the great elegist of the cosmopolitan culture that flourished in the dying days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He published several books and articles before his untimely death at the age of 44. Roth’s writing has been admired by J. M. Coetzee, Jeffrey Eugenides, Elie Wiesel, and Nadine Gordimer, among many others.

The award-winning translator Michael Hofmann has also translated works by Jenny Erpenbeck, Gert Hofmann, Franz Kafka, Heinrich von Kleist, and Joseph Roth for New Directions. His translation of Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck was awarded the International Booker Prize in 2024.