Since the mid-1990s, Thomas David has been in a continuous conversation with contemporary literature. He has repeatedly interviewed important English-language authors such as John Banville, Don DeLillo, Patricia Highsmith, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison, Muriel Spark, Graham Swift, Philip Roth, and Zadie Smith about their working methods and the sociopolitical issues of their time. The result is a book about what is essential not only in writing but also in life.