E. T. A. Hoffmann

By day he was a Prussian judge. By night he let the furniture think. He composed an opera, drew caricatures that got him posted to the provinces, reviewed Beethoven, and invented Kapellmeister Kreisler — the musician who cannot live in a sensible world. The Nutcracker was his, and darker than the ballet. So was one of the first crime stories. So was a tomcat writing his memoirs beside a genius going mad. The Sandman is one door into that house. There are many rooms. The doors do not stay shut.