The book broadens the knowledge about Melchior Wańkowicz's work and his biography, ethical choices and life decisions in a mosaic way. It indicates the contexts in which his work is worth placing (reflection on the relevance of this work is interwoven with considerations concerning the history of Poland and the world), brings non-obvious answers to the question of his place in Polish and world literature, participation in and shaping of literary life before the war and after 1945. It examines the relations between his writing and the art of graphic design and editing. It raises the issue of the genre affiliation of Wańkowicz's works. It is of a review and diverse nature. The texts included here are both scientific articles – interdisciplinary comparative analyses, philological interpretations and historical considerations, as well as sketches on the border of biography and memoirs. Thanks to this, Wańkowicz. Not Only a Reporter is a must-read not only for professionals (philologists, historians and art historians, students of Polish studies, for whom the writer's name is a relic of the past), but also for every lover of literature, in which emotions, erudition and narrative passion do not exclude each other, but create a unique whole – which is the work of the author of The Battle of Monte Cassino, demanding re-readings.
The volume is published in the series "The French Connection". Towards the end of his life, Wańkowicz saw the key to an introspective interpretation of his writing in the French culture, well-known to him from his reading and personal experience. He treated the anecdote about the "Lafontaine carafe" as a metaphor for his own strategy of viewing and describing the world.