A collection of stories by Martel, first published in German in 1998 as a selection from his early work. It brings together shorter fiction written in his first years as a writer, including tales of illness, friendship, family secrets and imagination. The stories are quiet, inventive and often humorous, and they show his early interest in how storytelling helps people face difficulty. The collection is mostly of interest to readers who want to see how his later novels grew from his first experiments.