Curzio Malaparte (1898-1957), the highly renowned eccentric from Prato in Tuscany among his contemporaries, was a writer, journalist, scandal-ridden individualist, and opportunist. He has left an ambivalent legacy, not only through his literary works but also through his colorful personality, his manière de vivre, and his political fickleness. Long forgotten in this country, he has been experiencing an unexpected comeback in Germany for several years now: many of his books are being reissued in German translation, and numerous studies on his life and work are being published. The author provides an overview of Malaparte's life and analyzes his entire narrative oeuvre. The focus of the study is on the author's unique narrative style, whose distinct features can be found in the design of the omnipresent first-person narrator and, closely related to this, in the historical reality.