Jean Paul (1763-1825) was a master of psychological storytelling and a magnificent explorer of human inner worlds. In her brilliantly written biography, Beatrix Langner paints a new picture of the word wizard who created one of the most significant prose works in the German language. Initially, Jean Paul, born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, had to study theology. However, he bet everything on a life as a free writer. After many years of failure, his novel Hesperus became the greatest literary success since Goethe's Werther in 1795. Beatrix Langner's well-researched new biography makes it clear how sensitively and perceptively Jean Paul responded to the intellectual and political events in Germany. Sometimes tragic, sometimes with grotesque humor, his work portrays the great drama of humanity between reason and superstition, between the light and dark sides.