Walks on the edge

"The very prettiest talent is of no use if the author is unable to sit down at the table and remain there very resolutely." This quote from the acceptance speech for the 1997 State Prize of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate is just one example of the trenchant way in which Ror Wolf has repeatedly grappled with his role as a writer and his own aesthetic intentions. In addition to the essays "Meine Voraussetzungen" (1966/1991), "Erste Lese-Erlebnisse" (1976), and "Das Blinkeln des magischen Auges" (1989/2000), this volume presents not only his major acceptance speeches and a selection of statements, reviews, and autobiographical texts, but also early contributions from the student newspaper "Diskus," in which Ror Wolf critically examined the works of Peter Weiss, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, and Arno Schmidt.