For this first comprehensive picture biography about Arno Schmidt, the editor Fanny Esterházy has researched in archives and brought to light unknown and astonishing: photographs, drawings, documents of all kinds, books and manuscripts, notes and letters, articles of the day, everyday and curiosities. The diverse material is supplemented and illustrated by text passages from Arno Schmidt's work, excerpts from the Arno and Alice Schmidt diaries, as well as comments from colleagues and friends.