When Josef Winkler received the Alfred Döblin Prize for Natura morta two years ago, Günter Grass said: "Josef Winkler is someone who does not just write, but exists to write. You can feel this in the density of his prose in all the books I know, and this new text confirms that strength." Shortly after its release, the Roman novella became an astonishing success in the media and among the public. "Figs, fresh figs!" calls out a plump Roman woman at the gates of the Vatican next to a bald man wearing a T-shirt that reads "Mafia. Made in Italy," holding a small plastic black head on a stick, showing it to the passing pilgrims. In his Roman novella, Josef Winkler describes the city in a way that is intrusive, almost overwhelming, palpable, audible, and visible, where it is most alive.