A modernist masterpiece set in early 20th century Vienna Robert Musil's The Man Without
Qualities is a sweeping satire of a society in decline. It is 1913 and Viennese high society
is determined to find an appropriate way of celebrating the seventieth jubilee of the accession
of Emperor Franz Josef. But as the aristocracy tries to salvage something illustrious out of
the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the ordinary Viennese world is beginning to show
signs of more serious rebellion. Caught in the middle of this social labyrinth is Ulrich:
youngish rich an ex-soldier seducer and scientist. Unable to deceive himself that the
jumble of attributes and values that his world has bestowed on him amounts to anything so
innate as a 'character' he is effectively a man 'without qualities' a brilliant detached
observer of the spinning racing society around him. Part satire part visionary epic part
intellectual tour de force The Man Without Qualities is a work of immeasurable importance that
captures the essence of a Europe on the brink of the First World War and the end of an era.
