The Great Game is a collection of eighteen short stories. The American West is supposed to be wild compared to the East. In Europe, it is the other way around. Lederer has lived in and writes about each of these places. He finds the differences are not as convenient as the myths. A hitchhiking trip across America. A drunk horse in California. A train from Berlin to Warsaw. Powerlessness among the rich. Innocence in New York City. Home. These are some of the themes explored in this book.

Michael Lederer was born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1956. He grew up in New Haven, Vienna, New York City, and Palo Alto, California. He now lives in Berlin and Dubrovnik. His first novel, Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore, was published in Barcelona in 1999. His first play, Mundo Overloadus, was produced at New York's PS122 in 2010. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Dubrovnik Shakespeare Festival.