The Great Bagarozy

A man who suffers from two obsessions is the protagonist of Krausser's novel, first published in Germany and the U.K. in 1997. Stanislaus Nagy is a fascinating madman who believes he is the devil. Obsessed with Maria Callas, he also is sure that he managed to inhabit the body of Callas's black poodle, Toy. Being a modern Satan, he takes his problems to a psychiatrist, Cora Dulz. Dulz, 37, is bored with her profession and with pretending to be a happy, satisfied wife to her tax accountant husband, who has a heart condition and a hobby: he collects news stories about unusual deaths. Excerpts from these clippings counterpoint the story of Cora's increasing fascination with her patient, Nagy. When Nagy involves Cora in stealing a music box, she begins to have erotic fantasies about this devil incarnate. In fact, she falls in love with him, but Nagy enjoys tantalizing his shrink while repeatedly rejecting her, being more interested in pouring out the fantastical story of his relationship to Callas. Meanwhile, Cora is keen to learn whatever she can about Nagy's private life: she discovers his favorite bar and, to her chagrin, learns that he seduced her secretary. When Nagy dismisses Cora, she stalks him at his new place of employment, the Alhambra, where he is performing as a magician called ""The Great Bagarozy""--the name of one of Callas's agents. Krausser twists the story deftly when Cora refuses to take Nagy's final ""no"" for an answer. The cat and mouse chase between a bored psychiatrist and her charismatic, very disturbed patient is a rich premise, and Krausser takes an original, unexpected route to uncovering all the comic, dramatic, and magical possibilities of the complex central relationship. Smoothly translated, this book playfully invites elements of fantasy and the paranormal into the story while keeping the characters pulsingly human. (Feb.)