There is a very interesting passage in My first wife, in which Wassermann describes the psychological state that foreshadowed his protagonist’s downfall: at a certain point, he began to idealize a real person, that is, he began to confuse a living person with an imaginary creation. It is curious that Wassermann supposes such a slip is a weakness of writers, who are used to making characters out of real beings. Wassermann is wrong, although the supposition is interesting. But this trap is not only meant for writers: the one who fell into it was not Alexander the writer, but Alexander the man. There are many, many similar examples… Feminine idealization is a very natural trait of men. There seems to be, if not a necessity, a natural psychological course when he creates a bond and lets himself be carried away by the feeling. It is as if the experience had to extend itself on the mental plane, which, more lasting and present, ends up overriding it. We all fall, dear Wassermann, all of us… although not every abyss is of the same depth.