The volume edited by Jochen Schubert offers a comprehensive selection from Heinrich Böll's narrative work, following several aspects: in addition to the best-known stories, there are those that are representative due to their subject and narrative style, and others that have not yet been published or are only planned hard-to-reach places. The total of 75 stories vividly document Böll's work in this genre, offer a wealth of reading material and an essay by Böll from 1953 entitled 'Is there a German story?' that is no longer accessible.