Pearls of style, which the writer honed in “small” prose, in order to later fully and completely reveal in his large-scale novels. However, each of these short stories is not just an amazingly beautiful “test of the pen”, but a work that is perfect not only stylistically, but also in plot. The legendary “Tonio Kroeger”, “Tristan” and “Death in Venice”. Still striking in its nonconformism is “How Yappe and Do Escobar Fought.” Intelligent, darkly ironic "Blood of the Volsungs" and "Little Mister Friedemann". And other short stories - infinitely varied in genre and manner of execution, but bearing the features of Mann's inimitable talent.