The term "universal man" has acquired bombastic overtones, but if any of our contemporaries deserves the appellation, it is Günter Grass: novelist, poet, draftsman, sculptor, public speaker and "politician of the good." He has been known as an essayist for many years; it is good to have these literary pieces [collected in Aufsätze zur Literatur]. As was to be expected, he often leaves the realm of belles lettres, especially in "Wie sagen wir es den Kindern?" (How Shall We Tell the Children?), a piece on the persecution of the Jews and its toleration by respectable German citizens.

Again expectedly, Grass combines seriousness with humor and an often biting wit. Thus he writes that the international "organization" of bureaucracy ranks above even the most militant nations…. His style is sharp and rapid, but he is not afraid of going into extensive detail, as in his essay comparing the Coriolanus dramas of Shakespeare, Brecht and himself….

Grass specialists surely know his brief "Looking Back at the Tin Drum" (1974), but it should interest those who may have missed it. It is pleasant to know that the model for Oskar Matzerath was indeed a three-year-old boy fascinated by his toy drum. The essays on Döblin and Kafka and the excursus on Heine are also genuine contributions—fermenta cognitionis. Grass is not a "great critic," but he is extraordinarily intelligent, informed and fair.