Thomas Bernhard, one of the most distinct, celebrated, & perverse of 20th century writers, took his own life in 1989. Perhaps the greatest Austrian writer of the 20th century, Bernhard`s vision in novels like ” Woodcutters” was relentlessly bleak & comically nihilistic. His prose is torrential & his style unmistakable. Bernhard is the missing link between Kafka, Beckett, Michel Houellebecq & Lars von Trier; without Bernhard, the literature of alienation & self-contempt would be bereft of its great practitioner. ” Woodcutters” is widely recognised as his masterpiece. Over the course of a few hours, following a performance of Ibsen`s ” The Wild Duck”, we are in the company of the Auersbergers, & our narrator, who never once leaves the relative comfort of his `wing-backed chair` where he sips at a glass of champagne. As they anticipate the arrival of the star actor, & the commencement of dinner, the narrator of ” Woodcutters” dismantles the hollow pretentiousness at the heart of the Austrian bourgeoisie. The effect is devastating; the horror only redeemed by the humour.