"Beers' German Winter Nights (1681) is one of the watermarks of German Baroque literature. Although it clearly owes much in motif and style to Grimmelshausen's picaresque novel, Simplicius Simplicissimus, its blend of outrageous student humor and unprecedented realism mark it as a uniquely readable work that has appeal even today." "Beer's novel reveals the influence of Spanish and French models in this genre, but it also shows the influence of his...