TherediscoveryofthewritingsofVezaCanetti(1897-1963)wasoneoftheliteraryeventsofthe1990sinGerman-speakingEurope.InherstoriesCanettishowsatasteforthegrotesque,acommitmenttotheunderdog,aforensicunderstandingofthepsychologyofwivestrappedintraditionalmarriages,aswellaswitandirony."VienneseShortStories"assemblesthefictionCanettipublishedinherlifetimebetween1932-1937asidefromhertwonovels("TheYellowStreet"and"TheTortoises").ThesestoriesappearedinViennesenewspapers,firstthesocialisticArbeiter-Zeitungand,afteritsclosure,inexilejournalsand,finally,adoptingaratherdifferenttoneandstyle,inthecensoredpressofthe"corporatestate"underChancellorKurtvonSchuschnigg.Shewritesaboutwomenaswives,daughters,andemployees,aboutworking-classchildrenwhoaretaughttheharshrulesofmiddle-classlifeatanearlyage,aboutthestreetviolenceduringtheworkers'revoltinFebruary1934,andthelowlystatusofmaids.Herfavouritepseudonym,VezaMagd(maid),showedherallegiancetothismarginalisedgroup,whosesenseofethicsunderscorestheirdignity,whichCanettichampions.Shehasanacuteeyeforthedynamicsofpowerinhumanrelationships,betheybasedondifferencesinclassorsexorboth.Sheismoralisticandengagedbutfunny;herstoriesaretraditionalratherthanChekhovianintheirtwistsofplotanduseofthefinalpunchline.InhisintroductionJulianPreeceshowshowVezaCanettiwasanunrivalledobserverofthelifeoftheViennesepoorontheeveofNazism.UntilnowVezaCanetti'sliterarycareerwasovershadowedbyhermorefamoushusband,EliasCanetti(1905-1994,NobelPrize,1981).Hisfailuretotelltheworldofherworkuntilshortlybeforehisdeath,madehertwonovels,threeplays,andshortstoriesevenmoreintriguing.