Thomas Mann (1875-1955) won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1929. This is a collection of his shorter works. Death in Venice, later filmed by Lucion Visconti starring Dirk Bogarde, was published in 1911. It is a poetic meditation on art and beauty, where the dying composer Aschenbach (modelled on Gustav Mahler) becomes fixated by the young boy Tadzio. The other stories are: Tonio Kroger; the collection entitled Tristan; The Blood of the Walsungs; Mario the Magician; and The Tables of the Law. A number of essays are also included.