E. T. A. Hoffmann dwelt in the realm of "things that seem to not exist but live just the same." The truth of these words of Balzac's about Germany's greatest Romantic storyteller is confirmed by all five tales in this volume, each representing a different facet of Hoffmann's genius, yet bearing its unmistakable signature. The impact of these stories is all the more stunning because they are variations on a single theme: the pursuit of a man by a dark fate he nurtures within himself. Long before the advent of psychoanalysis, Hoffmann was aware of the threat of eruption from the unconscious. The weird lands he explores lie within ourselves. The Sandman One of the tales selected by Offenbach for his opera Tales of Hoffmann. Nathanael, presented in childhood with a gruesome picture of the "bringer of sleep," flees all his life from a man who wants his eyes. Mademoiselle de Scudery In which a victim of split personality baffles the police of 17th century France. Datura Fastuosa Of the awful consequences of repression and a mother fixation. The King's Bride Such delightful whimsy! Yet it does not spare us an encounter with the more dubious aspects of ourselves. Gambler's Luck A suggestion of Edgar Allan Poe and perhaps Robert Louis Stevenson, and is there a touch of O. Henry?