Set in fin-de-siecle Vienna, this novel, about the death of Austrian liberal society in an atmosphere of nationalism and anti-Semitism, features a handsome composer's encounters with intellectuals and artists. It is a novel of Vienna on the verge of collapse, as Zionists flee to Palestine and nationalists to Germany. The book also examines the Viennese intellectual community, post-Wagnerian music and the psychology of Vienna's middle classes. One of the most widely read German language writers of the 20th century, Schnitzler shows that no road into the open is likely to lead anywhere but to destruction.  (AST02, $21.95)