Maxim Biller has achieved something remarkable with this novella: Inspired by the Eastern European narrative tradition of Michail Bulgakov or Isaac Bashevis Singer, he takes his readers on a journey to the Polish town of Drohobycz, into the world of writer Bruno Schulz, and back to the year 1938 in a magical, burlesque text. He leads us into a cellar where Bruno Schulz, who makes a living as an art teacher and dreams of a literary breakthrough across Europe, is writing a letter to Thomas Mann. He hopes that the world-famous writer can help him find a publisher abroad – then he would finally have a reason to leave his homeland forever. For the signs of impending doom are unmistakable and feed his constant companion, fear. An apocalyptic vision begins to take shape in Bruno Schulz's mind.