In "The Large Laundry," the first novel by Andor Endre Gelléri, the wash tubs steam, the washing machines and spin dryers rotate, the irons glide over silk shirts, and the heating pipes whistle. It is the pulsating rhythm of the bustling streets and the ever-active machines of modern Budapest. In the laundry, washerwomen and stokers, dye boys and ironing girls, foremen and hawkers work, all dreaming of a better life. But for now, they conform to the workflow in the laundry to secure their existence. The laundry is like a multi-voiced beehive, with the owner Jeno Taube as its ruler. Taube is obsessed with his ideal of cleanliness, yet he is also bored with his power and seeks distraction. Everyone buzzes around him, hoping to gain some of his favor. Gelléri shapes the drive.