The Drinker tells the story of an alcohol addiction, starting from harmless sips of wine to being admitted to a treatment facility. Author Hans Fallada wrote the novel during a period of imprisonment, drawing on his own experiences. It begins with a little wine to make the unfriendly world more bearable—and soon Erwin Sommer finds himself unable to escape alcohol. In the end, he ends up in a closed rehabilitation and care facility, where life becomes a hell for him. The problems of his protagonist were all too familiar to Hans Fallada. The Drinker is his most personal book.