Wolf Wondratschek's storytelling is soul archaeology. Michael Kohtes, DIE ZEIT. "In the past, the day began with a gunshot wound" - with this collection of short prose texts, Wolf Wondratschek established himself as a cult author. As a radical, loving, experimental bohemian, he crafted verses of laconic elegance. His new novel "Self-Portrait with Russian Piano" is a passionate homage to music and the freedom of art. In a Viennese café, a writer meets the old Russian Suvorin. Suvorin was a successful pianist, but that was long ago. Now, at the end of his life, he wants to tell his story. The writer listens intently, for in Suvorin's fate, he sees a will and an energy that feel familiar. And it always revolves around the whole: freedom and rebellion, beauty and decay, and that which is created by art.