Following 'Coffee and Cigarettes' and 'Afternoons' – the new major collection of stories by bestselling author Ferdinand von Schirach. Ferdinand von Schirach writes about human vulnerability, about triumphs and failures. His stories tell of society, death and crime, of music, film, painting, and philosophy. They are set in Berlin, Cape Town, Rome, Vienna, and on the French Riviera. They recount private encounters, historical events, and personalities such as the tennis player Gottfried von Cramm, the architect Adolf Loos, and the Viennese writer, actor, and cultural philosopher Egon Friedell. And again and again, his new book, 'The Silent Friend,' tells of coincidences that irrevocably alter a life, of the incomprehensibility and magnificence of humankind, of the uncertainty of existence, and the longing for protection, security, and freedom.