"Enormously erudite and enviably conversant with critical theory, Linden convincingly argues that modernism cannot be fully understood without taking account of the towering--but still often neglected--figure of Karl Kraus." --William Collins Donahue, author of Holocaust as Fiction: Bernhard Schlink's "Nazi Novels" and Their Films ". a sophisticated, original, and well-written study. Linden possesses a rare gift for rendering difficult and elusive concepts lucidly and gracefully. His scholarship is exemplary: even the footnotes are compelling and rich." --William Collins Donahue, Journal of Austrian Studies ". offers important food for thought in our current moment, and a critical reassessment of a truly modern thinker." --Caroline A.

Kita, The Germanic Review "Linden adds an impressive work to the growing literature on Austrian writer Karl Kraus." --R. C. Conard, emeritus, University of Dayton, CHOICE "Ari Linden's book on Kraus is a well-researched and well-presented study that despite its challenging topics is a pleasant read. It should be added to the reading lists of graduate seminars in literature, philosophy, and intellectual history." --Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger, Monatshefte "Ari Linden's study of Karl Kraus and modernist theory continues the widening aperture on Kraus's place in Central European thought. The book succeeds, with deep analysis and clear and vibrant writing, in showing Kraus as a modernist writer and theorist, as well as a public intellectual whose work is as valuable as more familiar figures such as Adorno or Benjamin. Readers will be rewarded most with a deeper understanding of Kraus's satire and the importance of media to the political conception of modernity, not only in early twentieth-century Central Europe, but also in our contemporary world.

" -- Austrian History Yearbook.