There is one question that is asked of every author: What is autobiographical in your novels? Petros Markaris answers this question – in his own way. He compares himself with a commissar, sees similarities and differences alike, and gets around to a discussion of his own past: a childhood in Istanbul, everyday life in Athens, collaboration with Theo Angelopoulos, his attachment to the German language and culture. A politically thinking person, such as Petros Markaris, does not limit himself to the autobiographical: When he writes about the Greek community in Istanbul, it is a worthwhile trip to the topic of minorities for him. When he talks about his Armenian roots, the subject is soon ›homeland‹. When he describes the creation of his characters Costas and Adriani, he takes up the themes of equality and political correctness. It is a playful game of association that the author carries on with himself before the reader's eyes. Autobiographically, historically and politically intermixed in a brilliant and loving way.