Thomas Mann was the first writer since Goethe to attract a large international audience to stories written in German, bringing Germanfiction into themainstream of European literature. His second majorwork, The Magic Mountain (1924), explores the heady intellectualculture of the chaotic and broken Germany that emerged from the FirstWorld War, and, along with the earlier Buddenbrooks, earned hima Nobel Prize for literature in 1929. Mann himself considered TheMagic Mountain to be his greatest novel, and few in his own daydoubted the preeminence of this modernist classic; however, many haveargued that the age of literary modernism has passed. If this is so,how might we best understand Mann's masterpiece now? Topicscovered in this volume, which aims to provide both a survey of and newresearch into important aspects of the work, include Mann's comicvision,his homosexuality, his fraught attitude toward Jews, the placeof his novel in the landscape of postmodern life, the theme ofsolitude, music in thenovel, and technology.STEPHEN D. DOWDEN is professor of German at Brandeis University. Contributors:DAVID BLUMBERG, MICHAEL BRENNER, STEPHEN DOWDEN, EDWARD ENGELBERG, ULKER GÖKBERK, EUGENE GOODHEART, JOSEPH P. LAWRENCE, KARLA SCHULTZ, SUSANSONTAG, KENNETH WEISINGER