"The Ptolemaic," in the devastation of war, operated by a beauty salon owner, attempts to take stock through a revue." From the foreword by Uwe Tellkamp

According to Benn, the "Ptolemaic" is "a thought and problem massif of the most current character." Its unique style seemed to make its thoughts unassailable at the time of publication in 1949. The three prose pieces "Weinhaus Wolf," "Roman of the Phenotype," and "The Ptolemaic," written between 1937 and 1947, are narrative texts without the usual invention of characters, actions, and relationships. They are "novels in sitting," filled with memories, observations, and speculations of a contemporary fascinated by the processes of decay in European civilization.