Marcel Proust was an extremely prolific letter writer. For the poet, who was often confined to bed, letters frequently took the place of personal conversation. In his correspondence, we experience the author from various angles: as a writer who literally fights to the last breath with his publisher over every line of his work. As a courageous literati who speaks out early in the scandalous trial of the Jewish Captain Dreyfus and advocates for the wrongfully convicted. As a mother's son and as someone engaged in homoerotic friendships. Time and again, Proust also shines as a witty storyteller with an eye for the quirky detail. His desperate attempts to fend off the noise from the neighboring apartment or his involvement in grotesque financial transactions are among the most amusing aspects of this correspondence. This is the first comprehensive German edition.