Kurt Wolff published it in 1919 as the second collection of stories by Kafka, after Betrachtung (Contemplation, 1912).

He often recounted to Max Brod the reaction of his father when he presented it to him: "Lay it on my nightstand."

The stories themselves have one thing in particular in common: somewhere, whether at the beginning or later in the course of the text, an unsettling moment, which is sometimes termed the "Kafka Paradox", occurs.

[1] Originally the short story "Der Kübelreiter" (The Bucket Rider) was to be included as well, but it was retracted by Kafka before the book was printed.

This article about a collection of short stories published in the 1910s is a stub.