The subject of intense discussions. The most commendable virtue of this collection about contemporary authors lies in its effort to thoroughly address provincialism and to speak of German literature, in the old sense, from both sides, in one long breath—without regard for taboos, tactical, and parliamentary interests. "A whole literature suddenly comes to light," wrote Peter Demetz in Merkur. This book, published in 1963, was the subject of months of heated discussions at the time. Now published in several editions, it is one of the most widely used standard works on post-war literature.