Hansjörg Schneider kept a new diary over the last ten years. He made notes on his reading, on encounters and projects, recording the moments of happiness that came by day, and the nightmares that haunted him by night. In the clear, direct language so treasured by readers of his Hunkeler novels, Hansjörg Schneider looks back at his life, his childhood, his marriage, his successes and failures as a writer – movingly and with laconic humour. The diary of a writer who has preserved the ability to be amazed: about the road that he has travelled, about the beauty of nature and the shortcomings of humankind, about the new day, and about the night when he first dreamt of hippos.