Berlin makes a perfect setting for Isherwood's pre-WWII tales. These two novels feature the grotesque Mr. Norris, who must survive under the Nazis and Communists; Fraulein Schroeder, who thinks reducing her bust size might improve her heart health; and the Landauers, a wealthy but doomed Jewish family. The stories included in this collection are behind both I Am a Camera and Liza Minnelli's Cabaret.