The material for her stories [in Gesammelte Erzählungen] comes from Wolf's own experience, even though this may be disguised as fantasy, dream, animal satire or even science fiction. In the first story in the collection, "Blickweehsel," the flight of Germans from the advancing Russians at the end of World War II is described from a retrospective of twenty-five years. Here Wolf shares an important insight into her creativeness by describing a state of mind wherein a victim of events becomes simultaneously their witness….

But Wolf's stories are by no means limited to detached inspection of her autobiography. They are occasionally passionate confessions which, in "Juninachmittag" and in "Unter den Linden," make use of the technique of addressing a fictional "Sie" or "du." Even though the reader may not be addressed directly, one feels oneself responding, or attempting to respond more immediately than if one were not addressed...