The work of Max Frisch (1911–1991), a Swiss prose writer and playwright, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, is marked by bright, sometimes provocative experimentation and almost always tragic. The novel offered to the reader, translated into Russian for the first time, is no exception. His hero, the artist Rinehart, a man who does not recognize compromises either in creativity or in love, learns the secret of his birth, tries to kill his father and is eventually imbued with the idea of ending his worthless family. But did he achieve his goal by committing suicide?..The novel is being published in Russian for the first time.