PHILADELPHIA — Aaron, 26, grew up in Redding, Mass., writes free-verse poetry, and organizes labor unions. He first read Steppenwolf ten years ago, as a sophomore in high school, when recommended it by a mentor.

Hermann Hesse (d. 1962) was born in Calw, a Black Forest town in the German Empire, in 1877. He began writing Steppenwolf in 1924, shortly after marrying the singer Ruth Wenger, whom he left weeks after marrying and, upon returning almost a year later, lived in a separate apartment from. He finished the novel in 1927, in Zurich, at age 50.

Aaron's poetry blog: http://somedayyeasayer.blogspot.com