The Tale of the 1002nd Night

Trouble ensues when a monarch believes he is seducing a countess in late nineteenth-century Vienna in this “witty, sad, and highly recommended” novel (Library Journal).

A New York Times Notable Book

Winner, PEN/Book-of-the-Month-Club Prize for Translation

“Sexy, highly ironic, sophisticated, and funny. . . . What a marvelous writer. Read him now. You can thank me later.” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

Vienna of the late nineteenth century, with its contrasting images of pomp and profound melancholy, provides the backdrop for Joseph Roth’s final novel, which he completed in exile, a few years before his tragic death in 1939. The Tale of the 1002nd Night is a brilliant, allegorical tale of seduction and personal and societal ruin, set amidst exquisite, wistful descriptions of a waning aristocratic age, and provides an essential link to our understanding of Roth’s extraordinary fictive powers.

“An erotic fable that leads to ominous portents. . . . A fitting introduction to [Roth’s] haunting oeuvre. Its simple, almost bouncy language, so deftly translated by Michael Hoffmann, lends an uncanny air of the far away and long ago.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“One of the best novels of one of 20th-century Europe’s greatest writers.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This historical novel proves its staying power, despite the tests of time and translation.” —Publishers Weekly