Idrus's best known collection of stories, Dari Ave Maria ke Jalan Lain ke Roma, from which most of the stories in this anthology were drawn, was first published in 1948 and has been in print ever since. Idrus mostly wrote about ordinary people who were distinguished by some odd characteristic, circumstance, or misfortune. He dealt with simple, human themes. With the eye of a journalist, Idrus combines factual reportage -observed first-hand or gained from those on the spot-and fiction based on fact but reworked to heighten their impact and import.
