This latest work by Hartmut Binder represents nothing less than the first comprehensive biography of Gustav Meyrink to meet the needs of a more demanding readership. The life of one the most important German writers of both satire and fantastic literature has long been hidden from our view by a veil of questionable legends and myths. Here, this is finally lifted. 
Hartmut Binder uses a wealth of hitherto unknown archive materials and printed sources as well as many historical illustrations to guide the reader through Meyrink’s unhappy childhood, and to bring to the fore the Prague dandy, the sportsman, the mystic, the quarrelsome litigant who provoked a public scandal, the failing bank owner who was imprisoned on remand for months following fraud accusations. He describes the translator in Munich as well as the successful author, who retreated to Lake Starnberg in Southern Germany. 
Special attention has been given to the years Meyrink spent in Prague . The unique atmosphere of the old imperial metropolis on the Vltava river, the many legends and typical figures that wander through the narrow lanes have left a distinct mark on both the early satires and the successful novels Walpurgis Night and The Golem, which are presented in detail.

Hartmut Binder is a professor of German Literature. The intimate knowledge of Old Prague at the dawn of the Hapsburg monarchy and of the German-Jewish cultural heritage handed down to us in the archives acquired by Hartmut Binder in decades of research forms the indispensable basis for this biography of Gustav Meyrink, whose quality and wealth of detail are a consequence of this expert knowledge.