Hesse's poetical novel Steppenwolf was written some twenty years before he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. This Faust-like and magical story of the humanization of a middle-aged misanthrope was described in The New York Times as a 'savage indictment of bourgeois society'. But, as the author notes in this edition, Steppenwolf is a book that has been consistently misinterpreted. This self-portrait of a man who felt himself to be half-human and half-wolf can also be seen as a plea for rigorous self-examination and an indictment of intellectual hypocrisy.

'Hermann Hesse in his capacity as a writer has served the spirit by telling of the conflict between spirit and life and of the struggle of the spirit against itself. Thereby he has rendered more tangible the obstacle-ridden road that can lead to a new wholeness and unity' - Martin Buber