In the second half of the 20th century a large number of exceptional writers emerged from the small Austrian Republic. Yet the relationship of many of these writers with state and society has often been stormy as Austrian writers have felt themselves excluded from the mainstream. Beneath Black Stars provides a cross-section of the best writing from Austria from the 1960's to the present and provides an opportunity to sample a rich literature that remains central to European culture. In Europe, during this period, probably only Ireland can compare for the number of outstanding writers originating within such a small population. As a good anthology should, this has everything: sex and death, politics and history, mountains and lakes, country and city, laughter and tears (and more tears).