Note: The novel weaves many of Grimmelshausen's autobiographical experiences made during the Thirty Years' War together with ahistorical musings, literary allusions and magical adventures

Synopsis: "The account of the life of an odd vagrant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim: namely where and in what manner he came into this world, what he saw, learned, experienced, and endured therein; also why he again left it of his own free will." (translation of the subtitle, as given with Wikipedia.en)