Sex and Character

"This long-awaited new translation of Austrian thinker Otto Weininger's masterwork, Sex and Character (1903), is simply splendid. Accurate, graceful, and complete—three qualities no other English translation can boast—it is light years beyond all previous translations. Why is this book a big deal, and why should one care about it? For one thing, because it encapsulates Viennese intellectual life around the turn of the 20th century insofar as it reflects the thinking of other intellectuals and artists—Freud, Kraus, and Broch, to mention three. But the more important reason is intrinsic: it raises questions about modernity, race, identity, gender, and fascism, questions that are still at the center of cultural debate. Those interested in European history and thought, cultural and literary studies, and race and gender theory will find this book indispensable. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. —M. Uebel, University of TexasNovember 2005"—Choice

"Still often cited—but rarely read—as the locus classicus of the fin-de-siècle convergence of misogynistic and antisemitic discourses in the figure of the feminized Jew, O. Weininger's 1903 best-selling revised dissertation has found its first complete English translation. . . This edition affords the English-speaking reader the opportunity to better understand the claims . . . that Sex and Character is not just an encyclopedia of anti-Jewish and anti-female stereotypes, but of early twentieth century philosophic and scientific cultures as well. Recommended for scholars, graduate and advanced undergraduate students examining the underpinnings and undersides of modernity."—Religious Studies Review

"[T]here are not that many great weird books. Sex and Character . . . is one of them. The appearance . . . of a definitive English translation published by Indiana University Press is a major cultural event. . .In short, Weininger's introspective exploration of the cosmic meaning of gender leads him to the depths of the anti-Semitic imagination. Which makes his book a kind of rough guide to the inner world of another Austrian figure who would later leave his mark on the world, Adolf Hitler. Twenty years ago, Gerald Steig, an Austrian writer, called Sex and Character 'the psychological-metaphysical prelude for National Socialism, including its variants.'. ."—Insde higher Ed

". . . If the goal was to make accessible to an English readership a fascinating source documenting Viennese attitudes towards sexuality, gender equality, modernity and Jews at the turn of the last century, the volume is a resounding success and will surely find its way onto the reading lists of cultural history courses at undergraduate and graduate level."—H-net Reviews

"In both fidelity and readability, [Löb's] rendering of Sex and Character far exceeds William Heinemann's 1906 English edition. Whatever might draw us to Weininger—his insight or passion, or our interest in fin—de siecle science and Viennese 'crises of identity'—Löb's translation will serve us wel"—Times Literary Supplement, February 24, 2006