The novella, one of the most sophisticated genres of narrative literature, owes its development primarily to German belles letters. In the present collection, Mr. Steinhauer has assembled a representative sampling that ranges from the Enlightenment to the postwar periods and reveals the scope and flexibility of this art form. Included are Wieland's "Love and Friendship Tested", Kleist's "Michael Kohlhaas", Chamisso's "Peter Schlemihl", Hoffmann's "Mademoiselle de Scudery", Keller's "Clothes Make the Man", Meyer's "Sufferings of a Boy", Mann's "The Bajazzo", Fontane's "Stine", Hauptmann's "Heretic of Soana", Kafka's "Hunger Artist", Schnitzler's "Fraulein Else", and Bergengruen's "Ordeal by Fire".