Robert Seethaler was born in Vienna in 1966 and is the author of eight novels. In 2017 he was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize with A Whole Life (FSG, 2016). He also works as an actor, most recently in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. He lives in Berlin.
Austria
Robert Seethaler
All Robert Seethaler's books
Latest reviews
- “A gallery of vibrant characters presented with an appealing blend of understated honesty and unsentimental warmth.”— The New York Times Book Review, Apr 30 2025
- “A slender novel about the everyday lives of the kinds of simple people who are usually overlooked, scorned or forgotten, and not just in fiction... Robert Seethaler’s story is warm, sympathetic and real. He makes these people’s lives matter.”— The Winnipeg Free Press, Apr 26 2025
[Jones] reads with thoughtful softness, making slight, effortless adjustments for conversations with friends, neighbors, customers, and passers-by.
— Booklist, Apr 1 2025- “While the novel stands up for the dignity of the human amid the casual violence of progress, it contains something more existential at its heart. It is haunted yet curiously timeless, a study of the battle against loneliness and despair.”— Times Literary Supplement, Mar 14 2025
- “Chronicling the everyday dramas of the café’s patrons over its decade-long existence, the novel is more an ode to a vanished world than a portrait of any single individual… Seethaler’s Vienna is evoked with a wistful and tender folksiness.”— Asymptote Journal, Mar 11 2025
“Mr. Seethaler’s quietly beguiling eighth novel, The Café With No Name, is his most uplifting to date... Sensitive, compassionate.”
— Wall Street Journal, Mar 8 2025“The Café with No Name is a moving, charming novel about to what extent we must change as the world around us hurtles into the unknown.”
— The Observer, Mar 2 2025- “The Café with No Name deals with the small dramas of everyday life... The prose has the stillness of a Vermeer... In a world of action movies and social media there’s little time for quiet contemplation. Seethaler reminds us we’re part of a whole.”— The Spectator, Mar 1 2025
- ★ “A beautifully crafted portrait of a sorrowful dreamer, a café, and the city that surrounds them... Seethaler’s novel lingers like the scent of coffee in the air—warm, fleeting, and profoundly human.”— Independent Book Review, Feb 25 2025
- “Robert Seethaler’s latest charmer is a small book that offers an intimate portrait of a time and place... A reminder of the strength and importance of human connections.”— New York Journal of Books, Feb 25 2025
- “Seethaler’s subtly understated voice remains warmly welcome in a literary culture that often displays its intentions too obviously. Many will love this calming, gentle and unsentimental story.”— The Guardian, Feb 20 2025
- ★ “A gem of a novel, whimsical and bittersweet but never sentimental, with indelible characters and a powerful sense of place.”— Kirkus Reviews, Feb 1 2025
- “Seethaler’s books are coloured by mood... his latest fable-like miniature invites quiet wonder into the ordinary.”— Financial Times, Jan 29 2025
- “A humble café in post-World War II Vienna serves as backdrop for all the large and small dramas of everyday life in this subtly scintillating novel.”— Shelf Awareness, Jan 14 2025
- “A neighborhood café sees everyday Viennese through personal tribulations and societal change... Around them, postwar Vienna is being remade. Booker nominee Seethaler remains fascinated with the bigness of everyday lives and the constancy of change.”— Booklist, Jan 9 2025
- “Robert Seethaler’s tender novel is about a Viennese restaurateur’s interactions with his acquaintances and customers... a valedictory novel that meditates on the passage of time and bonds that last.”— Foreword Reviews, Jan 1 2025
- ★ “Beautiful... Seethaler’s story bursts with empathy in its portrayal of a found family. This is a winner.”— Publishers Weekly, Nov 12 2024
