Peter Härtling looks back on his life – a representative story of a whole generation: a childhood during the war, a dreadful escape, a grinding recommencement, an incomplete education, a rapid rise – and a lifelong love.
In his memories Härtling makes the reader a witness of a progress. We meet the author at his desk and then follow him into the past. After painful experiences as orphan and refugee, Härtling pursues a professional career as journalist who later becomes a successful editor and publisher, and finally a highly awarded writer.
Härtling grippingly describes his way to the capitals of the cultural and literary life back in the post-war era in Westgermany, and the influence he receives from numerous personalities. This autobiography is a literary report on the author’s life that repeats many motives from his previous literary work and also describes how closely connected life and literature can be.
