This literary debut of lucid, elegant prose, entertaining and vivid, tells the life story of William James Sidis (1898 – 1944), a ›wonder child‹ torn between the expectations of society and the desire for self-definition.

Boston, 1910: Eleven-year old William James Sidis is hailed as the ›wonder boy from Harvard‹ by the American press. His father Boris, a well-known psychologist with the burning ambition to better the world through education, is jubilant. He has trained William since birth according to a special learning programme. By using the ›Sidis Method‹, he claims, all children could develop the same abilities as his son. But as William grows older, he breaks away from his parents and his upbringing. He refuses to put his intelligence at the disposal of a society which is ruled by exploitation, greed for profit and military force. Instead, he tries to shape his life according to his own ideas – with unflinching determination.

A historical and at the same time politically highly topical biographical novel as well as a great debut.

Old photos that inspire the imagination of the contemporary viewer in a captivating way. Veering from strange to touching, they continually pose the question: What on earth was going on? Klaus Cäsar Zehrer was inspired by pictures like these to create short stories, scenes and poems – from tender to ruthless, from poetic to unreservedly silly. And Shakespeare’s 155th love sonnet is in there too.